South Polar Skua

Stercorarius maccormicki Saunders, H, 1893

South Polar Skua, Stercorarius maccormicki, breeds on coastal Antarctica, especially in the Ross Sea, and also on the South Shetland and South Orkney Islands. Outside the breeding season it ranges widely over offshore waters, reaching the North Indian Ocean and moving through the Pacific and Atlantic. It is a large seabird in the skua family, and adults can be picked out by the pale head set against the darker body. It was described by Saunders in 1893.

Order

Charadriiformes

Family

Stercorariidae — Skuas

Breeding range

Antarctica: coastal Antarctica, especially Ross Sea; also South Shetland and South Orkney is. (off Antarctic Pen.)

Nonbreeding range

to n offshore waters and North Indian Ocean: mostly clockwise to Japanese and Korean waters (w North Pacific) and Gulf Stream of e USA (w North Atlantic), then sw Canada to n Baja California (nw Mexico; e North Pacific) and nw Africa (e North Atlantic)