![]() They are generally aggressive in disposition. They look like large dark gulls, but have a fleshy cere above the upper mandible. They have longish bills with a hooked tip, and webbed feet with sharp claws. On average, a skua is about 56 cm (22 in) long, and 121 cm (48 in) across the wings. The skuas range in size from the Long-tailed Skua, Stercorarius longicauda, at 310 grams (11 oz), to the Brown Skua, Stercorarius antarcticus, at 1.63 kg (3.6 lb). They are medium to large birds, typically with grey or brown plumage, often with white markings on the wings. In these areas, skuas seem to defer to the considerably larger giant petrels. In the Southern oceans and Antarctica region, some skua species (especially the South Polar Skua) will readily scavenge the carcasses at breeding colonies of penguins and pinnipeds, sometimes taking live penguin chicks. The eggs and young of other birds are an important food source for most skua species during the nesting season. Those species that breed in the Southern Oceans, largely feed on fish that can be caught near their colonies. On the breeding grounds, the three, more slender Northern breeding species commonly eat lemmings. The larger species, such as the Great Skua, also regularly kill and eat adult birds, such as puffins and gulls, and have been recorded as killing birds as large as a Grey heron. Many are partial kleptoparasites, comprising up to 95% of the feeding methods of wintering birds, by chasing gulls, terns and other seabirds to steal their catches, regardless of the size of the species attacked (up to 3 times heavier than the attacking skua). ![]() Outside the breeding season, skuas take fish, offal, and carrion.
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