Algeria, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, Australia, Austria (P), Azerbaijan (NB) (P), Bahamas, Bahrain, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Bermuda, Brazil, British Indian Ocean Territory, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria (NB), Canada, Cape Verde, Chile, China (mainland), Colombia, Costa Rica, Côte dIvoire, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark (P), Djibouti, Dominica, Ecuador, Egypt, Eritrea, Faroe Islands, Fiji, Finland, France (NB) (P), French Guiana, Gambia, Germany (P), Ghana, Gibraltar, Greenland (NB), Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran [Islamic Republic of], Ireland, Israel, Italy (NB), Japan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Lebanon (NB), Liberia, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Marshall Islands (NB), Martinique, Mauritania, Mexico, Montserrat, Morocco, Myanmar, Namibia, Netherlands (NB), Netherlands Antilles, New Caledonia, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Northern Mariana Islands (NB), Norway (B), Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Romania (NB), Russia (Asian) (B), Russia (Central Asian) (B), Russia (European) (B), Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Slovakia (Slovak Republic), Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Pierre and Miquelon (NB) (P), St Vincent and The Grenadines, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turks and Caicos Islands, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom (P), Uruguay (NB), USA (B), Vanuatu, Venezuela, Virgin Islands (British) (NB), Virgin Islands (U.S.) (NB), Western Sahara.
Vagrant to Antarctica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Congo, Croatia (Local Name: Hrvatska), Greece, Guinea-bissau, Haiti, Hong Kong (China), Jordan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Luxembourg, Montenegro, New Zealand, Serbia, Slovenia, Somalia, South Korea, St Helena, Tanzania [United Republic of], Togo, Turkey.
Unknown to Micronesia [Federated States of].
Tundra of northern Russia, northern Alaska and northern Canada. Winters at sea close to coasts, mainly between Tropic of Cancer and equator, and around Australia.
Breeds across nothern Europe, Asia and North America, migrates to the Southern Hemisphere. Well dispersed around the coasts of Australia, especially in the east.
Habits
Singly, in pairs or small groups, but larger groups at sources of food, such as trawlers.
Food
Opportunistic predator and scavenger, stealing food from other birds. Mainly fish on non-breeding grounds and invertebrates, insects, fish, eggs and young and small mammals, especially rodents. Lemmings, eggs, chicks of other birds and fish stolen from other birds at the Tundra breeding sites. Food-piracy very important source of food outside of breeding season.
Voice
Mewing calls in contact and a harsh, gull-like, 'kowk' or 'geck' when angered. A sharp, gull-like, 'which-yew, which-yew', when squabbling over food.
Pomarine Jaeger (Stercorarius pomarinus) [XC504876]
by Andrew Spencer from Landsberg am Lech (near Die\u00dfen am Ammersee), Oberbayern, Bayern, Germany (call)
Pomarine Jaeger (Stercorarius pomarinus) [XC211501]
by Mario Trejo from New South Wales, Australia (flight call)
Breeding Season (Guide)
Does not breed in Australia. May - July in the Arctic.
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Nest
A shallow depression on open ground, lined with grass.
Eggs (Guide)
1 - 3, usually 2; slightly glossy, warm brown to olive, spotted and blotched dark brown; ellipsoidal; about 64 x 45 mm. Incubation: 25 - 28 days; by both sexes.
Young
Fledge in 31 - 32 days.
Subspecies
May actually be more closely related to Great Skua (Catharacta skua), than to either of congeners.
No subspecies.
Similar Species
Long-tailed Jaeger (Stercorarius longicaudus) which has longer, more slender, fine-tipped streamers and Arctic Jaeger (Stercorarius parasiticus) which has longer streamers.
Compare Images
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
BirdLife International Species Factsheet