| Skuas | |
|---|---|
| |
| Pomarine jaeger | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Charadriiformes |
| Suborder: | Lari |
| Family: | Stercorariidae Gray, 1871 |
| Genus: | Stercorarius Brisson, 1760 |
| Type species | |
| Larus parasiticus Linnaeus, 1758
| |
| Species | |
|
See text. | |
The skuas /ˈskjuːə/ are a group of predatory seabirds with seven species forming the genus Stercorarius, the only genus in the family Stercorariidae. The three smaller skuas, the Arctic skua, the long-tailed skua, and the pomarine skua, are called jaegers in North American English.
The English word "skua" comes from the Faroese name for the great skua, skúgvur [ˈskɪkvʊɹ], with the island of Skúvoy renowned for its colony of that bird. The general Faroese term for skuas is kjógvi [ˈtʃɛkvɪ]. The word "jaeger" or Jäger is German for "hunter".[1][2] The genus name Stercorarius is Latin and means "of dung";[note 1] the food disgorged by other birds when pursued by skuas was once thought to be excrement.[3]
Skuas nest on the ground in temperate, Antarctic, and Arctic regions, and are long-distance migrants. They have even been sighted at the South Pole.[4]
- ^ "Jaeger". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
- ^ "Skua". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
- ^ Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 365. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
- ^ Mark Sabbatini, "Non-human life form seen at Pole", The Antarctic Sun, 5 January 2003.
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