Gallery - Skuas

Skuas (Stercorariidae)

Take a look at this great BTO video on Skuas and their ID

Great Skua (Stercorarius skua)

Nests among grass or heather on moors and spends winter out to sea,may be seen at coast on migration in spring and autumn.

Artic Skua (Stercorarius parasiticus)

This aerial pirate breeds on moorland or tundra around the coasts of Northan Europe. it often chases other seabirds and forces them to disgorge their catch.It winters at sea off the coasts of Africa and South America.

Artic Skua Dark Morph

Dark Morph is uniform dark brown below

Artic Skua Pale Morph

Pale Morph has a dark cap, white neck cheeks and underparts and, sometimes, a pale grey-brown breast band.

Pomarine Skua (Stercorarius pomarinus)

When these heavy looking skuas are seen migrating along the coasts of Europe they are moving between their breeding grounds in the Artic Tundra and their wintering grounds in the open Atlantic Ocean.

Long-tailed Skua (Stercorarius longicaudus)

A marine species that sometimes passes through British and Irish inshore waters on migration. It breeds in the far north on Artic tundra and on fells above the tree-line, and winters at sea.

Juvenile Long-tailed Skua (Stercorarius longicaudus)

This shows the "Blonde" headed version.

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