Pomarine Jaeger

Stercorarius pomarinus (Temminck, 1815)

45 cmLength118 cmWingspan692 gWeight

An adult in the breeding season has two long, twisted, spoon-shaped central tail feathers.

Busiest months: September · Most records: United States, Spain, United Kingdom

Least Concern

How to identify

Field marks

Breeding adult has long, spoon-shaped central tail feathers
White patches on the underwing form a double flash
Pale-morph adult has a black crown and yellowish-white head and neck
Dark-morph adult has dark brown body feathers

Male, female and young

Juvenile is harder to identify than adult.

Voice

Grating clucking, also a call like “which-yew”.

Where and when it's recorded

Pomarine Jaeger has been recorded at 511 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 86 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

GambellUnited States2,711 records
Pt. Pinos – seawatch onlyUnited States2,175 records
Southeast Farallon IslandUnited States1,695 records

More places

Estaca de Bares – Observatorio de aves y entornoSpain1,477 records
St. Paul IslandUnited States625 records
Bridges of RossIreland421 records
Dungeness Bird Observatory Recording AreaUnited Kingdom385 records
Ngor – Hotel Le CalaoSenegal349 records
Eilat north beachIsrael319 records
PN Sintra-Cascais – Cabo RasoPortugal304 records

Countries and regions with the most records

United States Spain United Kingdom Canada Portugal Ireland Senegal Israel

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

The pomarine jaeger (Stercorarius pomarinus), pomarine skua, or pomatorhine skua, is a seabird in the skua family Stercorariidae. It is a migrant, wintering at sea in the tropical oceans.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

Questions

How big is the Pomarine Jaeger?

The Pomarine Jaeger is about 45 cm long, with a wingspan of 118 cm and weighs around 692 g.

Where does the Pomarine Jaeger live?

Its breeding range: North America, Palearctic: Holarctic high Arctic tundra: erratically off southwestern Greenland, Svalbard (nesting unconfirmed; north of Norway), northwest to northeastern Arctic Russia (including many high Arctic islands), high Arctic northern Alaska and southwestern Alaska mainland, and Arctic Canada to Baffin Island (northeastern Canada). It is most often recorded in United States, Spain and United Kingdom.

When is the best time to see the Pomarine Jaeger?

At the hotspots we track, it is recorded most in September (Northern Hemisphere).

Is the Pomarine Jaeger endangered?

The IUCN Red List classifies the Pomarine Jaeger as Least Concern.

What does the Pomarine Jaeger eat?

Main food: Fish, shrimp & shellfish.

What family is the Pomarine Jaeger in?

It belongs to the family Skuas (Stercorariidae), order Charadriiformes.

At a glance

Length: 45 cm
Wingspan: 118 cm
Weight: 692 g
Habitat: Ocean
Diet: Fish, shrimp & shellfish
Lifestyle: Feeds in the air
Migration: Migratory
Conservation: Least Concern

More measurements

Wing: 351 mm
Tail: 176 mm
Bill: 46 mm
Tarsus: 52 mm

Averages from the AVONET dataset; length from field guides where available.

Range

North America, Palearctic: Holarctic high Arctic tundra: erratically off southwestern Greenland, Svalbard (nesting unconfirmed; north of Norway), northwest to northeastern Arctic Russia (including many high Arctic islands), high Arctic northern Alaska and southwestern Alaska mainland, and Arctic Canada to Baffin Island (northeastern Canada)

Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2