All birds/Stercorariidae/South Polar Skua
AI reconstruction of South Polar Skua (Stercorarius maccormicki)AI

AI reconstruction created with Nano Banana 2 · 1K, grounded in the profile’s documented taxonomy, habitat, natural-history sources, and an open-license visual reference when available. It is an interpretive image, not documentary evidence. Image policy

South Polar Skua (Stercorarius maccormicki)
Verified source photographKimberley CollinsCC-BY · View source
PRB-0134Charadriiformes

South Polar Skua

Págalo Polar

Stercorarius maccormicki

Accidental / vagrantIUCN LC · Least Concern

The south polar skua (Stercorarius maccormicki) is a large seabird in the skua family, Stercorariidae. An older name for the bird is MacCormick's skua, after explorer and naval surgeon Robert McCormick, who first collected the type specimen. This species and the other large skuas, such as the great skua, are sometimes placed in a separate genus Catharacta.

FamilyStercorariidaeSkuas and Jaegers
Puerto Rico occurrenceAccidental / vagrantAvibase inferred core 380
Primary habitatopen-oceanSea
Primary dietCarnivoreAquatic predator
Average mass1315 gGlobal trait estimate
MovementMigratoryAerial

Sound archive

Hear its voice

Explore real songs and calls. The spectrogram turns each sound into a visual trace of time and frequency.

XC254084Recording 1 of 2call
Spectrogram of South Polar Skua: call
SpectrogramStercorarius maccormicki

Play: call by Andrew Spencer

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Sound recorded by Andrew Spencer · XC254084 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Visualization by Stichting Xeno-canto voor Natuurgeluiden.

Every recording retains the creator, catalogue number, and license published by Xeno-canto. Metadata via GBIF

Island profile

Catalog scopeAvibase inferred core 380

About the South Polar Skua

The south polar skua (Stercorarius maccormicki) is a large seabird in the skua family, Stercorariidae. An older name for the bird is MacCormick's skua, after explorer and naval surgeon Robert McCormick, who first collected the type specimen. This species and the other large skuas, such as the great skua, are sometimes placed in a separate genus Catharacta.

Conservation

Least Concern

IUCN LC

Global IUCN
LC
Puerto Rico DNER
No current listing in source crosswalk
Federal ESA
No current listing in source crosswalk
Critical habitat
Not identified in source crosswalk

Natural history

How it lives

Habitat
open-ocean
Elevation
0–0 m
Nest
Scrape
Clutch
1–2 eggs
Social behavior
Colonial; Social / flocking

Keep exploring

This bird belongs to 6 paths through the atlas.

Evidence trail

Sources, media & further reading