The Great Skua

Great Skua

The Great Skua (Stercorarius Skua) occurs in the northern Atlantic and breeds on the islands and along the coast cliffs or on moist upland coastal heaths on Svalbard, Jan Mayen, Bear Island, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Norway and the UK. Great skua is a migratory bird and in winter it lives pelagic and occurs over a much wider area of the Atlantic.

The Great Skua eats mainly fish, which it often obtains by robbing gulls, terns and even Northern Gannets of their catches. It will also directly attack and kill other seabirds, up to the size of Great Black-backed Gulls. Like most other skua species, it continues this piratical behaviour throughout the year, showing less agility and more brute force than the smaller skuas when it harasses its victims.