The Brown Skua is a bird of Antarctica and surrounding oceans. Although it can hunt for itself, it will also steal food from other birds. Or, it may just eat them.
It will often hybridize with other Skuas.
Classification:
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Stercorariidae
Genus: Catharacta
Species: C. antarctica
Photos:
brown skua
"A brown suka ( Stercorarius antarctica) taken 15th july 2007 sossa pelaic tour"
Photo courtesy of jenink
Brown Skua, Stercorarius antarcticus, with chicks
"Skuas are typically very aggressively defensive at breeding sites. These ones were so quiet and camouflaged that I didn’t detect them until almost on top of the birds. Brown Skuas are probably the most important avian predator on the Antarctic Peninsula and South Shetland Islands, consuming large numbers of penguin eggs and chicks. The are also efficient scavengers. doing a lot to clean up penguin carcasses and regurgitated krill and fish. Photographed at Robert Point, Robert Island, South Shetland Islands - December 31, 2006. More Brown Skua and Antarctica images can be found on my web site at www.birdinfo.com"
Photo courtesy of mgsbird
Brown Skua
"Brown Skua practice "Kleptoparasitism" - stealing food from other, even other much bigger birds. The skua grabs the other bird by its scapulars or inner secondaries, or its tail feathers, harassing it into regurgitating food."
Photo courtesy of marj k
Brown Skua
"Brown Skua, Catharacta antarctica, Cuverville Island, Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica, Dec 2005"
Photo courtesy of Rodrigo Tapia
Video:
Hut Point and Hut Point Ridge Hike
A Brown skua. I believe only Brown Skua’s live here. This shot doesn’t give it justice, the birds have a four foot wingspan, but basically they look like large, brown, menacing g… Read more…
Subantarctic Skua, Gold Harbor, So. Georgia
brad.schram 發表相片：. Subantarctic Skua, Gold Harbor, So. Georgia. Formerly Brown Skua, now thought by some to be a separate species, "Subantarctic Skua". January 26, 1998. South Georgi… Read more…
It’s hard to see clearly but this bird is a brown skua. They are the Adelie penguins main predator and will pull adult penguins off of nests to get to their eggs. Penguin tracks Torgesson I… Read more…
ANTARCTICA #3: A Beautiful Day in Antarctica
At one point, a Brown Skua (a large gull-like bird) flew over the colony, and all hell broke loose. Apparently, Skuas prey on penguin eggs and chicks, and the nesting penguins were not happy…. Read more…
Glasgow ePrints Service - The first record of Brown Skua …
Evidence from mtDNA suggests that two skuas, one discovered in the Scilly Islands Cornwall in October 2001, the other in Glamorgan in February 2002, belong to the Brown Skua group Catharacta an… Read more…
In publicly accessible areas, dogs have been major predators - particularly of penguins returning from the sea. At Chatham and Stewart Islands, the southern brown skua also attacks blue penguin… Read more…
