Parasitic Jaeger
Photo: Jinesh PS · CC BY-SA 4.0

Jaegers and Skuas

Parasitic Jaeger

Stercorarius parasiticus

LCLeast Concern
Family
Jaegers and Skuas (Stercorariidae)
Order
Charadriiformes

Overview

The parasitic jaeger or arctic skua (Stercorarius parasiticus), also known as the parasitic skua or arctic jaeger, is a seabird in the skua family Stercorariidae. It is a migratory species breeding in Northern Fennoscandia, Scotland, Iceland, Greenland, Northern Canada, Alaska, and Siberia and wintering across the southern hemisphere. Kleptoparasitism is a major source of food for this species during migration and winter, and is where the name is derived from.

Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Range and habitat

Breeds mostly low Arctic tundra from Greenland, Iceland, and Scotland eastward to northeastern Siberia and Kamchatka, Aleutian and Bering Sea islands, through Alaska to east-central Arctic Canada (except northern high Arctic islands); winters to coastal waters of Africa, Persian Gulf, western India and Sri Lanka, eastward to Australasia, and Peru, Chile, and east-central Argentina.

Range description: AviList Global Avian Checklist.

Sources and further reading

Last updated September 29, 2026.