Bird / Stercorarius parasiticus

Arctic Skua

LC

Lowest risk

Vagrant

The parasitic jaeger, also known as the Arctic skua, Arctic jaeger or parasitic skua, is a seabird in the skua family Stercorariidae. The word "jaeger" is derived from the German word Jäger, meaning "hunter". The English "skua" comes from the Faroese name skúgvur [ˈskɪkvʊər] for the great skua, with the island of Skúvoy known for its colony of that bird. The general Faroese term for skuas is kjógvi [ˈtʃɛkvə]. The genus name Stercorarius is Latin and means "of dung"; the food disgorged by other birds when pursued by skuas was once thought to be excrement. The specific parasiticus is from Latin and means "parasitic".

Average mass
450 g
Average length
44 cm
Average wingspan
118 cm
Breeding interval
Parasitic jaegers breed once a year.
Breeding season
Parasitic jaegers breed from May to September.
Range eggs per season
1 to 2
Range time to hatching
25 to 28 days
Range fledging age
25 to 30 days
Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
4 to 5 years
Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)
4 to 5 years
Range lifespan
Status: wild
385 (high) months

Dakota, A. 2009. "Stercorarius parasiticus" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed November 10, 2020 at https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Stercorarius_parasiticus/

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