Skua
Family of birds / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Stercorariidae?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
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.
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 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 and Arctic regions, and are long-distance migrants. They have even been sighted at the South Pole.[4]