Key information
The long-tailed skua is a medium-sized seabird and our smallest skua. It is the size of a black-headed gull, with slim wings and long delicate tail streamers. It is greyish above and dusky below with a pale breast. It has a dark cap on the head and has a dark bill. Juvenile birds are greyer and more barred than juvenile Arctic and Pomarine skuas, but are tricky to identify.
It is a passage migrant to the UK, breeding in the high Arctic. Good numbers of birds spend the winter off west African coasts and off Brazilian and Argentinian coasts.
What they eat:
Small mammals and, when at sea, small fish, offal and carrion.
Measurements:
- Length:
- 41-46 cm
- Wingspan:
- 105-117cm
- Weight:
- 240-350g
Identifying features:
This bird species has different identifying features depending on sex/age/season.
Long-tailed skua
Long-tailed skua (juvenile)
