Great Skua (Catharacta skua)

Special Segments Butterflies of North America Conifers of North America Eastern Birds List of N.A. Insects Home Eastern Wildflowers General Topics Natural History Ecology Family Environment Evolution Home Education Home Conservation Geophysics Paleontology Commercial Organizations

A Field Guide to Eastern Birds. by Roger Tory Peterson.

Return to Eastern Gulls and Terns

Great Skua (Catharacta skua)

Identification: Length from tip of bill to tip of tail 23 inches. A large gull-like bird. General coloration dull, dark brown all over. Bases of the outer wing feathers white. Tail trapezoidal without projecting tail feathers.

Similar Species:  The Great Skua is similar, in some respects, to the three species of jaegers. However all three species of jaegers have projecting apical tail feathers. The Great Skua may be mistaken for immature gulls of different species. No immature gull species, however, has white bases to the apical wing feathers.

Breeding Range (see map below): The Great Skua breeds on Iceland and islands in the North Sea.

Overwintering Range:  This species overwinters along the Atlantic Coast from Labrador south to Maryland.

Habitat: The Great Skua breeds on open ground near the ocean. This species spends most of its time at sea.

Food: During the breeding season rodents and birds. Otherwise fish and shrimp.

Behavior: Like the jaegers, the Great Skua raids the nests of other seabirds for nestlings and eggs. The voice is a strident hah-hah-hah-hah.

Reproduction:  The clutch consists of 2 brown-spotted olive-brown eggs. The eggs are laid in a nest of woven grass placed on the ground.