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Great Skua
last update: Mar 24, 2009 06:09 PM
Latin name: Stercorarius skua
Population: 10,000-20,000 individuals
Cites classified: Least Concern
Where found: North Atlantic Ocean from Iceland to Norway and the Kola Peninsula including the Faroe, Hebrides, Orkney, Bear, and Shetland Islands
Age/ life expectancy: 15 years
Wingspan: 132-140 cm
Length: 53-58 cm
Weight: 1.2-1.6 kg
Mating/Breeding: Great skuas nests in solitary pairs or in loose colonies and are territorial on their breeding ground. The nest is a shallow depression located on flat ground; it is lined with dry grass or other vegetation. Egg-laying usually takes place during the second half of June, depending somewhat on snow conditions on the tundra. The two eggs are olive-brown or grey-green with dark brown speckles. Both sexes take shifts incubating the eggs during the 29 day incubation period. The young remain close to the nest and are fed by the parents until they are fledged after six or seven weeks. Great skuas become sexually mature when they are seven or eight years of age. Ringing programmes have shown that the majority of chicks return to their natal areas. Once a bird has become established in a breeding area it almost invariably returns to the same territory every year. “Divorces” within a pair are infrequent, and birds that do change partners rarely move long distances.
Eggs: 2 brown eggs, blotched red-brown
Hibernation: migrates south to the Atlantic from Ireland to Central Africa and the Mediterranean and some Icelandic birds head to Newfoundland in the winter
Hunting Habits: surface-seizure, scavenging, or piracy
Feed on: mainly fish, but known to prey on both adult and young seabirds during the breeding season
Colour/Body: The great skua is a large dark brown bird. In flight it resembles a large gull with well defined white wing patches. The sexes are similar in appearance. The under-parts are a lighter than the back, and it has broad, rounded wings and a relatively short and stout. It has a sturdy hooked bill. The back is covered with rusty-yellow or yellow-white dappling. The outer flight feathers of the wing (primaries) have a white base, which makes up a well defined white patch on the wing. The bill and legs are black. Juveniles are a uniformly dark brown.
