Derivation
Ster-co-rä'-ri-us - L., dungy: lonnbergi - Professor Axel Johan Einar Lonnberg (1865 - 1942), a Swedish zoologist who mainly worked at the Vertebrate Department of the Swedish Museum of Natural History
Antarctica (B), Australia (B), Bouvet Island (B), French Southern Territories, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Maldives, New Zealand (B), Seychelles, South Africa, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (B), Sri Lanka.
Breeds on Antarctic Peninsula and adjacent islands. North and south Atlantic, southern oceans and sub-Antarctic islands, including Macquarie and Heard Islands, to southern Australia, from about Shark Bay, WA to Sandy Cape, south-eastern Queensland.
Brown Skua (Stercorarius antarcticus) [XC416215]
by Fabrice Schmitt from Robert Point, Antarctica (call)
Brown Skua (Stercorarius antarcticus) [XC863960]
by Kevin Guille from Mayes island, France (alarm call, begging call, call, flight call)
Breeding Season (Guide)
Does not breed in Australia. Breeds on Antarctic Peninsula and adjacent islands.
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Nest
A shallow depression in the ground, lined with grass.
Eggs (Guide)
2; glossy, smooth, chestnut-brown or paler with variable brown spots and blotches; oval; 73 x 52 mm. Incubation: 28 - 29 days; by both sexes, but mainly by female.
Young
Semi-precocial. Ptilopaedic. May leave the nest within a few hours after hatching.
Subspecies
Great Skua (Catharacta skua), Brown Skua (Catharacta lonnbergi), Brown Skua (Catharacta antarctica) and South Polar Skua (Catharacta maccormicki) (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993), cross-regional species, are retained as separate species contra Christidis and Boles (1994) and Turbott (1990) who include lonnbergi and antarctica as subspecies of Great Skua (Catharacta skua) and AERC TAC (2003) who include South Polar Skua (Catharacta maccormicki) as a subspecies of Great Skua (Catharacta skua).
Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Brown Skua (Catharacta antarctica).
The following 3 subspecies are recognised:
lonnbergi (Mathews, 1912) - Antarctic Peninsula, and subantarctic islands of Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. Some winter near breeding areas but many range widely in southern oceanic waters. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Brown Skua (Catharacta antarctica).
clarkei Mathews, 1913 - South Orkneys.
intercedens Mathews, 1913 - Kerguelen I.
Similar Species
Dark morph of South Polar Skua (Catharacta maccormicki) which is smaller, has a pale area around the base of the bill, has a darker head and dark morph of Pomarine Jaeger (Stercorarius pomarinus) which has a darker head and tail streamers.
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Notes
Previously four subspecies of Catharacta skua, were nominate skua, lonnbergi, antarctica and hamiltoni. They have now been split into four distinct species, Great Skua Catharacta skua, breeds in northern hemisphere, Southern Skua Catharacta antarctica, breeds Falkland Islands and Patagonia, Brown Skua Catharacta lonnbergi, circumpolar, breeding on subantarctic islands and the Antarctic Peninsula, and Chatham Island, and Chilean Skua Catharacta chilensis.
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
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