Arctic Skua

This species breeds in the north of Eurasia and North America, with significant populations as far south as northern Scotland. It nests on dry tundra, higher fells and islands, laying up to four olive-brown eggs. It is usually silent except for newing and wailing notes while on the breeding grounds. Like other skuas, it will fly at the head of a human or fox approaching its nest. Although it cannot inflict serious damage, it is a frightening and painful experience. It is a migrant, wintering at sea in the tropics and southern oceans.

The Arctic Skua is classified as Least Concern. Does not qualify for a more at risk category. Widespread and abundant taxa are included in this category.

Arctic skuas, also called parasitic jaegers, have a well-earned reputation as avian pirates, stealing much of their food from other birds. More

Arctic skuas live most of their lives at sea, and come ashore only to breed in the Arctic summer. Once young jaegers leave the nest, they may not visit land for two years—until they have themselves reached breeding age. Parasitic jaegers are great travelers and annually migrate to winter in the Southern Hemisphere. Both light- and dark-colored morphs of this bird occur, though scientists are not yet sure what natural advantages each color affords. More

* More Arctic skua information and photos at the Handa Island Skua Project * RSPB A to Z of UK Birds Search Wikimedia Commons Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Stercorarius parasiticus Search Wikispecies Wikispecies has information related to: Stercorarius parasiticus Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia. More

Arctic Skua and the existence of three morphs. Pomarine Skuas are larger than Common Gulls. They are much bulkier, broader-winged and less falcon-like than Arctic Skua, but show the same wide range of plumage variation. The flight is more measured than that of the smaller species. Light-morph adult Pomarine Skuas have a brown back, mainly white underparts and dark primary wing feathers with a white "flash". The head and neck are yellowish-white with a black cap. More

Arctic skuas are in dramatic decline and may soon disappear from Britain's shores, while the Great skua (or "bonxie") is controversial because of its widely debated effect on other seabird populations. We have been monitoring and studying both of these species at their most important site in West Scotland since the year 2000. More

The arctic skua resembles a stocky gull in body form, but it is a bit more steam-lined and predatory looking in its overall appearance. The species occurs in two colour phases, a light and a dark, as well as intermediates forms. The dark morph dominates in the southern parts of its range, whereas the light morph predominates in northern regions. Adult birds are approximately 46 cm in length (including the seven to eight centimetre long projected central tail-feathers). The arctic skua weighs 350-600 g. More

parasiticus, known as the Arctic Skua or Parasitic Skua in some publications, is a seabird in the skua family Stercorariidae. Distribution / Range This species breeds in the north of Eurasia and North America, with significant populations as far south as northern Scotland. It nests on dry tundra, higher fells and islands, laying up to four olive-brown eggs. It is usually silent except for newing and wailing notes while on the breeding grounds. More

Arctic skua with wings and tail spread in flight Arctic skuas pair up and defend feeding territories from their neighbours in the Arctic, but elsewhere they form colonies with small territories within them. As well as squabbling with the neighbours, they steal fish from other birds such as terns and puffins. What do they sound like? - 1. More

The Arctic Skua exists in three plumage forms. The dark morph is uniformly dark brown, the pale morph has almost completely white underparts, though sometimes with a dark breast-band and the intermediate is pale brown. In all plumages, it has an obvious pale panel in the primaries, visible from above and below. Adults have two elongated pointed feathers sticking beyond the rest of the tail as a single central prong. Juveniles lack this prong and show a variable amount of barring in their plumage. More

The Arctic Skua at Eakring Flash August 2003 For over 13 years, Arctic Skua represented the most glaring gap-filler on my Notts list. For several reasons, I had missed this species on at least three occasions during the 1990's - twice at King's Mill Reservoir and once at Netherfield. Despite many thousands of hours spent in the field throughout that time and at every likely site possible, Arctic Skua still eluded me. More

The arctic skua (stercorarius parasiticus) is around 66 centimetres (26 inches) long. It is unusual in that the plumage can vary greatly between individual birds, as well as at different ages and times of the year. "Dark" adults are mostly dark brown with some greyer feathers on the underparts and yellowish streaks on the head and neck in summer. "Light" adults have whitish underparts and are darker on top, with a more speckled underbody in winter. More

Most of the entire life of the Arctic Skua is spent at sea, coming ashore only to breed in the mid summer of the Arctic. The female will lay two to three eggs and incubate them on ground nests, raising them til flight stages. One the young ones leave the nest, they will probably not visit land again until they reach breeding age themselves, which takes about two years. More

The Arctic Skua is mostly a passage migrant in Scotland but in the north of Scotland and in the Scottish Northern Isles it is a locally common breeder. It winters in the Southern Atlantic ocean. It resembles a dark gull with pointed wings with a fast swooping flight. It will relentlessly chase gulls and terns until they are forced to disgorge their food which the Skua catches in mid-air. There are two plumage morphs called pale phase and dark phase. More

Arctic Skua breeds in the northern Eurasia and North America, with significant populations as far south as northern Scotland. It is usually silent except for mewing and wailing notes while on the breeding grounds. Like other Skua's it will fly at anything approaching its nest and although it cannot inflict serious damage, it is nevertheless a nerve wracking experience. It is a migrant, wintering at sea in the tropics and southern oceans. More

arctic skuaarctic skua - a variety of jaeger parasitic jaeger, Stercorarius parasiticusjaeger - rapacious seabird that pursues weaker birds to make them drop their preygenus Stercorarius, Stercorarius - type genus of the Stercorariidae: jaegers Translationsarctic skua n → labbo How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. More

Arctic skua - Definition = Arctic Skua Scientific Classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Charadriiformes Family: Stercorariidae Genus: Stercorarius Species: parasiticus Binomial name Stercorarius parasiticus More

vues bogabirder — 11 juin 2007 — Dark phase Arctic Skua at the Varanger, Norway. bogabirder — 11 juin 2007 — Dark phase Arctic Skua at the Varanger, Norway.Catégorie : Animaux Tags :Arctic Skua Varanger Norway Birding Chargement… J'aime Enregistrer dans Partager E-mail Skyrock Facebook Twitter MySpace Live Spaces Blogger orkut Buzz reddit Digg Chargement… Connectez-vous ou inscrivez-vous dès maintenant ! Publier un commentaire * highluss il y a 1 an amazingness.. More