Stercorarius maccormicki
Silhouette: Liam Quinn (photo) and Albertonykus (silhouette) · PhyloPic
In 3 days >90%
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.
The south polar skua is a large bird (though small compared to other skuas sometimes placed in Catharacta) that measures around 53 cm (21 in) in length. Adults are greyish brown above, and have a whitish (pale morph) or straw-brown (intermediate morph) head and underparts, and the contrast between head and body makes it easy to separate from similar species with good views. Juveniles and adult dark morphs are harder to distinguish from their relatives, and more subjective or difficult-to-observe criteria, such as the colder brown plumage and blue bill base, must be used.
Distinguishing this skua from the Northern Hemisphere Arctic, pomarine, and long-tailed skuas is relatively straightforward. The large size, massive barrel chest, and white wing flashes of this bird are distinctive even at a...
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Antarctic Peninsula & South Shetland Islands | 🇦🇶 Antarctica |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dakar | 🇸🇳 Senegal |
Likely
About 60% of wildlife watchers report a South Polar Skua sighting in Antarctic Peninsula & South Shetland Islands on a given day, based on 1,901 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 10th most-seen of the 29 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December to February
In those months about 70% of wildlife watchers report a South Polar Skua in Antarctic Peninsula & South Shetland Islands on a given day, against about 30% in October, the lowest month. April to September have too few records to rate.
Between 2 and 5 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most South Polar Skua sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Antarctic Peninsula & South Shetland Islands, in our data
Antarctic Peninsula & South Shetland Islands is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate South Polar Skua sightings: about 60% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the South Polar Skua is recorded against all the birds logged in Antarctic Peninsula & South Shetland Islands (1,901 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
