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
Habitat
Off-shore, occasionally warves and beaches. Also seen following ships.
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.
Vagrant to India, Iran [Islamic Republic of].
Population
Estimated population is 10,000 - 19,999 (2010).
Brown Skua (Stercorarius antarcticus) [XC863081]
by Kevin Guille from Mayes island, France (alarm call, call)
Brown Skua (Stercorarius antarcticus) [XC70500]
by Craig Robertson from Isla Pinguino, Puerto Deseado, Santa Cruz, Argentina (wing display on ground)
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), Southern 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.
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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BirdLife International Species Factsheet