Skuas
Pomarine Skua
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Charadriiformes Family: Stercorariidae Gray, 1871 Genus: Stercorarius Brisson, 1760

For other uses: see Skua (disambiguation). The Pomarine Skua, Stercorarius pomarinus, known as Pomarine Jaeger in North America, is a Seabird in the Skua family Stercorariidae Chordates ( Phylum Chordata) are a group of Animals that includes the Vertebrates together with several closely related Invertebrates Birds ( class Aves) are bipedal endothermic ( Warm-blooded) Vertebrate animals that lay eggs. Charadriiformes is a diverse order of small to medium-large Birds It includes about 350 Species and has members in all parts of the world John Edward Gray ( 12 February 1800 &ndash 7 March 1875) was a British zoologist. Mathurin Jacques Brisson ( 30 April 1723 &ndash 23 June 1806) was a French Zoologist and natural philosopher

Skuas are seabirds in the family Stercorariidae. Seabirds are Birds that have adapted to life within the marine environment The three smaller skuas are called jaegers in North America.

The name skua comes from Faroese skúgvur IPA: [ˈskɪkvʊɹ] (Stercorarius skua), and the island of Skúvoy is renowned for its colony of that bird. Faroese ( føroyskt ˈføːɹɪst or) often also spelled Faeroese (cf Skúvoy is an island in central Faroe Islands, located to the south of Sandoy. Jaeger is derived from the German word Jäger, meaning hunter. The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages.

Skuas nest on the ground in temperate and Arctic regions and are long-distance migrants. Bird migration refers to the regular seasonal journeys undertaken by many species of Birds Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability

Outside the breeding season they take fish, offal and carrion. Many are partial kleptoparasites, chasing gulls, terns and other seabirds to steal their catches; the larger species also regularly kill and eat adult birds, up to the size of Great Black-backed Gulls. Kleptoparasitism or cleptoparasitism (literally Parasitism by Theft) is a form of Feeding where one animal takes Prey from another The Great Black-backed Gull, Larus marinus, is a very large Gull which breeds on the European and North American coasts and islands of the On the breeding grounds they commonly eat lemmings, and the eggs and young of other birds. Lemmings are small Rodents usually found in or near the Arctic, in tundra Biomes Together with the Voles and Muskrats they make

They are in general medium to large birds, typically with grey or brown plumage, often with white markings on the wings. The giant petrels are two large Seabirds from the Genus Macronectes. The Antarctic Fur Seal ( Arctocephalus gazella) is one of eight seals in the genus Arctocephalus, and one of the nine fur seals in the family Birds ( class Aves) are bipedal endothermic ( Warm-blooded) Vertebrate animals that lay eggs. They have longish bills with a hooked tip, and webbed feet with sharp claws. They look like large dark gulls, but have a fleshy cere above the upper mandible. They are strong, acrobatic fliers.

Skuas are related to gulls, waders, auks and skimmers. Gulls (often informally Seagulls) are birds in the family Laridae Waders, called shorebirds in North America (where "wader" is used to refer to long-legged wading Birds such as Storks and This article is about a family of birds For the American ornithological journal see The Auk. The Skimmers, Rhynchopidae, are a small family of Tern -like Birds in the order Charadriiformes which also includes the Waders Gulls In the three smaller species (all Holarctic), breeding adults have the two central tail feathers obviously elongated and at least some adults have white on the underparts and pale yellow on the neck, characteristics that the larger species (all native to the Southern Hemisphere except for the Great Skua) do not share. Therefore the skuas are often split into two genera with only the smaller species retained in Stercorarius, and the large species placed in Catharacta. However, there is no genetic basis for this separation. The Pomarine and Great Skuas' mitochondrial DNA (which is inherited from the mother only) is in fact more closely related to each other than it is to either Arctic or Long-tailed Skuas, or to the Southern Hemisphere species. Mitochondrial DNA ( mtDNA) is the DNA located in Organelles called mitochondria. Thus, hybridization must have played a considerable role in the evolution of the diversity of Northern Hemisphere skuas.

Species

• Long-tailed Skua or Long-tailed Jaeger, Stercorarius longicaudus
• Arctic Skua or Parasitic Jaeger, Stercorarius parasiticus
• Pomarine Skua or Pomarine Jaeger, Stercorarius pomarinus
• Chilean Skua, Stercorarius chilensis
• South Polar Skua, Stercorarius maccormicki
• Brown Skua, Stercorarius antarctica
• Great Skua Stercorarius skua

References

• Harrison, Peter Seabirds: An Identification Guide ISBN 0-7470-1410-8

External links

• Skua videos on the Internet Bird Collection

The Long-tailed Skua, Stercorarius longicaudus, is a Seabird in the Skua family Stercorariidae The Arctic Skua, Stercorarius parasiticus, known as the Parasitic Jaeger in North America, is a Seabird in the Skua family Stercorariidae The Pomarine Skua, Stercorarius pomarinus, known as Pomarine Jaeger in North America, is a Seabird in the Skua family Stercorariidae The Chilean Skua ( Stercorarius chilensis) is a large predatory Seabird. The South Polar Skua, Stercorarius maccormicki, is a large Seabird in the Skua family Stercorariidae The Brown Skua ( Catharacta antarctica) is often referred to as Antarctic Skua (or vice versa the taxonomy of Skuas is still a matter of dispute The Great Skua, Stercorarius skua, is a large Seabird in the Skua family Stercorariidae

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