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South Polar Skua
(Stercorarius maccormicki)
: "MacCormick's Skua"
Size: 53 cm; wing span ca. 1.3 m
Weight: 0.9-1.6 kg
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Similar
species |
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Physical description |
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 Click here for a physical description
South Polar Skuas are medium-sized pelagic birds.
Their plumage
comes in two types of morphology: dark and light (there are
intermediate forms too).
Dark morphology South Polar Skuas have dark brown-grey faces,
upperwings, tail, belly and vent. The cap, neck and chest are
mostly buff-coloured, with some dark streaking.
Light
morphology South Polar Skuas have somewhat lighter upperwings
than dark-morphology specimens and the entire head and front are
buff-coloured. Belly and vent are buff with dark streaking.
Both morphologies have some buff streaking on the upperwings.
The bill is dark-grey and hooked, the legs and feet are also
dark-grey. In flight, prominent white patches can be seen on
the upperwing at the base of the primary flight feathers.
Juveniles
have streaked heads and necks.
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Twitcher's tip |
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Compared to Brown
Skuas, the South Polar Skua is smaller and lighter. The
white patches on the upperwings are much more prominent than
those of a Brown
Skuas.
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Taxonomy, classification |
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See South
Polar Skua at Wikipedia  .
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Range, habitat, finding this species |
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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
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The global distribution of the South Polar Skua is available
HERE
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The range of the South Polar Skua encompasses the Antarctic
continent, the southern oceans and parts of the northern
oceans, plus coastal
waters of southern continents.
Although found mostly on the oceans of the southern hemisphere,
South Polar Skuas are also present regularly on both the East
and West coast of North America.
South Polar Skuas rarely reach the Australian coastline. If they do,
they can be seen anywhere South of the tropic of Capricorn, including many
southern Australian offshore
islands. South Polar Skuas breed on the Antarctic coastline.
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Sightings |
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Click here for sighting information
B. Hensen reports spotting South Polar Skuas on the Windmill
Islands in Antarctica in December 1993.
M. Eaton reports finding a South Polar Skua 22 NM off
Southport, Gold Coast, QLD, in April 2018.
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Photos |
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Light morphology
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ADULT |
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Two South Polar Skuas on a rockface
(photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Windmill Islands, Antarctica, December 1993]
Distant lateral view of a South Polar Skua in flight; note the
conspicuous flash on the wing and the contrast between dark wing
and lighter-grey body
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[22 NM off Southport, Gold Coast, QLD, April 2018]
South Polar Skua in flight seen against a leaden background sky
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[22 NM off Southport, Gold Coast, QLD, April 2018]
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.
Breeding
Nest
Eggs
Behaviour
Food
Call/s
