What eats the south polar skua?
Diet and feeding South polar skuas are often seen following ships at sea. Many skuas nest in close association with their prey. Southern giant-petrel and other skuas are infrequent predators on unattended nests and wandering chicks. Some eggs and chicks are lost each season to exposure.
Where are skuas found?
Skuas (Stercoracidae) longicaudus) breed on the Arctic slope and winter in oceanic waters. A large proportion of these birds also perform extensive transequatorial migrations, with large numbers wintering off the west coasts of South America and South Africa.
How tall is a south polar skua?
around 53 cm
Description. The south polar skua is a large bird (though small compared to other skuas sometimes placed in Catharacta) that measures around 53 cm (21 in) in length.
Do skuas eat krill?
Squid and small fish are also welcome. Their main predators are skuas and giant petrels, which may try to steal eggs and unprotected chicks. It eats fish, krill, squid, bottom-feeding prawns, and sometimes even penguins.
What do skuas look like?
On average, a skua is about 56 cm (22 in) long, and 121 cm (48 in) across the wings. They have longish bills with a hooked tip, and webbed feet with sharp claws. They look like large dark gulls, but have a fleshy cere above the upper mandible. The skuas are strong, acrobatic fliers.
Are skuas aggressive?
They can often be seen flying low and fast over the waves in pursuit of prey, and only come to land to breed. They are known to be very aggressive at their breeding grounds – dive-bombing anyone who gets close to their nests.
Where is the best skua?
Great skua can be seen in breeding areas on coastal rocky islands and moorland – at other times seen around coasts, often in the neighbourhood of seabird colonies, scavenging from other birds, or picking food from the surface of the sea. The arctic skua arrives at its breeding grounds in April and leaves in July.
How big does a south polar skua get?
Description. The south polar skua is a large bird (though small compared to other skuas sometimes placed in Catharacta) that measures around 53 cm (21 in) in length. Adults are greyish brown above, and have a whitish (pale morph) or straw-brown (intermediate morph) head and underparts, and the contrast between head and body makes it easy…
When do skuas go to the South Pole?
Some birds have very pale blonde head and body. Breeds in Antarctica, further south than almost any other species of bird. Ranges across all oceans, mainly from March to October, typically staying offshore and very rarely seen from land. Compare with other skua species.
Where does the south polar skua lay its eggs?
It breeds on Antarctic coasts, usually laying two eggs in November and December. It is a migrant, wintering at sea in the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans. In the eastern North Atlantic, it is replaced by the great skua. South polar skuas have been seen at the actual Geographic South Pole.
How did the south polar skua get its name?
Megalestris Hill, on Petermann Island in the Wilhelm Archipelago of Antarctica, is named after an obsolete generic name for the south polar skua. Like other skuas, it flies at the head of a human or other intruder approaching its nest. The south polar skua eats mainly fish, often obtained by robbing gulls, terns and even gannets of their catches.