What eats the South Polar Skua?

Diet and feeding South polar skuas are often seen following ships at sea. Many skuas nest in close association with their prey. Southern giant-petrel and other skuas are infrequent predators on unattended nests and wandering chicks. Some eggs and chicks are lost each season to exposure.

Do skuas have predators?

Do Arctic Skuas have any natural predators? Arctic Skua eggs and young are vulnerable to Arctic Foxes.

Where do South Polar skuas live?

continental Antarctica
The South Polar Skua (Catharacta maccormicki) is the size of a largish gull. They nest all around continental Antarctica and breed into the deep south. They are excellent fliers and have occasionally been sighted deep in the interior hundreds of miles from anything other than ice, even as far south as the pole.

Do skuas eat penguins?

Mature skuas eat penguins, preying on their chicks and occasionally taking adults.

Are there any predators for the south polar skua?

South Polar Skuas don’t really face any natural predators, but they have low success rates at breeding which makes maintaining their population difficult. 1. South Polar Skua females are larger than the males.

Where are the skuas at the South Pole?

South polar skuas have been seen at the actual Geographic South Pole. Megalestris Hill, on Petermann Island in the Wilhelm Archipelago of Antarctica, is named after an obsolete generic name for the south polar skua.

Can a south polar skua be separated from a brown skua?

Separation from Brown Skua in Southern Hemisphere is more problematic; there are multiple populations of Brown Skuas and hybrids with South Polar are quite frequent! South Polar averages smaller-billed and slightly less bulky than Brown, and never has bold streaks or spangles on upperparts, but many birds are best left unidentified.

How big is the south polar skua bird?

This species and the other large Southern Hemisphere skuas, such as the great skua, are sometimes placed in a separate genus Catharacta . The south polar skua is a large bird (though small compared to other skuas sometimes placed in Catharacta) that measures around 53 cm (21 in) in length.