Species: Stercorarius parasiticus

Parasitic Jaeger

Species

Birds

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Salish Sea-reliant birds

Species of concern in the Salish Sea

Encyclopedia of Puget Sound

Classification

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Craniata

Class

Aves

Order

Charadriiformes

Family

Stercorariidae

Genus

Stercorarius

NatureServe

Source:
ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.100286

Classification

Other Global Common Names

Arctic Skua - Mindrião-Parasítico, Gaivota-Rapineira - Salteador Parásito - labbe parasite

Informal Taxonomy

Animals, Vertebrates - Birds - Other Birds

Formal Taxonomy

Animalia - Craniata - Aves - Charadriiformes - Stercorariidae - Stercorarius - Also called arctic skua (AOU 1998).

Ecology and Life History

Migration

false - false - true - Migrates northward along both Atlantic and Pacific coasts; arrives off Florida coast April-May, on nesting grounds late May-early June. Migrates off Costa Rica August-October and late March-April, principally off Pacific coast (Stiles and Skutch 1989). Fall migration in northern Alaska begins in early September; most have departed by mid-September; nonbreeders may depart earlier (Johnson and Herter 1989).

Non-migrant

false

Locally Migrant

false

Food Comments

Diet includes small mammals, various birds (ducks, shorebirds, passerines), bird eggs, fishes, and invertebrates (e.g., GAMMARUS); aggressively chases and takes fishes from other birds (Terres 1980; Belisle and Giroux 1995, Condor 97:771-781).

Reproduction Comments

Breeding begins late May to early June (Harrison 1978); first eggs are laid in mid-June in north-central Alaska (Johnson and Herter 1989). Both sexes incubate usually 2 eggs for 23-26 days (sometimes up to 28 days). Young are semi-precocial and downy, can fly 28-35 days after hatching; fledging period averages 29-30 days. Most fledge in August in northern Alaska. Firsts breeds at age 3-5 years.

Length

Weight

508

Conservation Status

NatureServe Global Status Rank

Global Status Last Reviewed

1996-11-26

Global Status Last Changed

1996-11-26

Other Status

LC - Least concern

Distribution

Conservation Status Map

Global Range

BREEDS: arctic and subarctic Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, northern Eurasia south near coast to Kamchatka and Sea of Okhotsk. NONBREEDING: Atlantic Ocean from Maine and Great Britain south to South America (Brazil, eastern Argentina) and southern Africa; Pacific from Baja California south to Chile, Australia, New Zealand.

ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.100286