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10

Brown Skua (Stercorarius antarcticus) Alternate name(s): "Antarctic Skua", "Great Skua", "Subantarctic Skua", "Southern Skua", "Southern Great Skua", "hakoakoa" Size: 50-58 cm; wing span 1.25-1.4 m Weight: 1.2-2.2 kg

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Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Brown Skuas are medium-sized pelagic birds. They have the size and shape of a gull and an all dark-brown plumage, with some buff streaking at the neck and on the upperwings. The bill is dark-grey and hooked; the legs and feet are also dark-grey. In flight, white patches can be seen on the upperwing at the base of the primary flight feathers. Juvenile birds do not have any streaking yet. Twitcher's tip Compared to South Polar Skuas, the Brown Skua is bigger, more massive and also darker.

Taxonomy, classification See Brown Skua at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Brown Skua is available HERE . Although found mostly on the oceans of the southern hemisphere, Brown Skuas are a global bird species that is present on the open seas of both the northern and southern hemispheres. Around Australia only race "lonnbergi" is found, which populates the southern oceans and coastal waters. They reach the Australian coastline anywhere from about the Hunter estuary, NSW, around the South coast of the continent to about Perth (in some cases even Carnarvon), WA. Brown Skuas, race "lonnbergi", breed on offshore islands, such as e.g. Macquarie Island.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Race "lonnbergi" B. Hensen reports spotting Brown Skuas, race ""lonnbergi", off Macquarie Island in the Southern Ocean in December 1993. M. Mearns reports spotting Brown Skuas, race "lonnbergi", in Antarctica in January 2005. We spotted a Brown Skua, race "lonnbergi", on a pelagic to the edge of the continental shelf, 22 nautical miles (40 km) from Terrigal, NSW, in July 2013. J. Greaves reports spotting a Brown Skua, race "lonnbergi", a few km off the south-western coast of WA at Flinders Bay, Augusta, WA, in May 2015.

Photos

Race "lonnbergi"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Lateral view of a Brown Skua (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Antarctica, January 2005]

Lateral view of a Brown Skua floating on coastal water (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Flinders Bay, Augusta, WA, May 2015]

Adult Brown Skua protecting its nest, in the process displaying its characteristic underwing pattern (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Macquarie Island, Southern Ocean, December 1993]

Squabbling bunch of Brown Skuas (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Macquarie Island, Southern Ocean, December 1993]

(Bad) photo of a Brown Skua in flight, seen from underneath
[22 NM (40 km) ESE of Terrigal, NSW, July 2013]

Food, Diet

Next to fresh kills, Brown Skuas also feed on carrion.

Northern Giant-Petrel, centre, and three Brown Skuas feeding on a seal carcass (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Macquarie Island, Southern Ocean, December 1993]

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

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Disclaimer: Comments are always welcome. We give no guarantee that the information presented on these pages is always correct or up-to-date. External links are marked as such and we take no responsibility for the contents of external pages. All images on this site are protected by copyright & used by permission of the respective owners. If you wish to reproduce them or any of the material presented on this web site, please contact us: We hereby acknowledge the original custodians of the land which is described on these pages, including the Gomeroi/Gamilaraay people of the North-west Slopes and Plains of NSW, and the traditional owners of other lands and nations within this country. We acknowledge elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty was never ceded.          Last updated: Thu, 12 November 2020, 8:16 +00:00