Stercorarius pomarinus
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5%
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. The pomarine jaeger is most closely related to the larger skuas (species formerly placed in a separate genus Catharacta: great skua, Chilean skua, brown skua, and south polar skua). Together, the pomarine jaeger and the larger skuas are sister to the two smaller skua species, the parasitic jaeger and long-tailed jaeger.
The evolutionary relationships of the pomarine jaeger were formerly controversial. Based on plumage similarity between the pomarine jaeger and the two smaller jaegers (long-tailed jaeger and parasitic jaeger), the three jaegers were formerly placed in a separate genus from the larger skuas (with the jaegers in Stercorarius and the larger skuas in the former genus Catharacta). However, behavioural evidence was recognized early on as suggesting a link between the pomarine jaeger and the larger skuas: for example, both pomarine jaeger and great skuas perform wing-raising displays, a behaviour that is absent in the two smaller jaegers. Skeletal data also hinted at a closer... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Svalbard | 🇳🇴 Norway | |
| 2 | Kenai Fjords National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 4 | Channel Islands National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Bastimentos Island National Marine Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 6 | Cabo Blanco Absolute Nature Reserve | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 7 | Padre Island National Seashore | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 9 | Great Bear Rainforest | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 10 | Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 11 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 12 | Olympic National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 13 | Acadia National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 14 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 15 | Carara National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 16 | Galápagos Islands | 🇪🇨 Ecuador |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dakar | 🇸🇳 Senegal | |
| 2 | Tel Aviv | 🇮🇱 Israel | |
| 3 | San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Lima | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 5 | Miami | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Sydney | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 7 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte] | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 9 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Chicago | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Pomarine Jaeger sighting in Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte] on a given day, based on 15 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 196th most-seen of the 204 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Pomarine Jaeger in Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte] on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Pomarine Jaeger sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
8th of 10
Of the 10 cities where we can rate Pomarine Jaeger sightings, Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte] ranks 8th at under 5%. The best odds are in Dakar (Senegal, about 20%), Tel Aviv (Israel, under 5%) and San Diego (United States, under 5%).
Same order: Charadriiformes
The closest relatives of the Pomarine Jaeger that you can see in Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte] (order Charadriiformes, Shorebirds and Allies) are Red-wattled Lapwing (about 60%), Black-winged Stilt (about 20%) and Common Sandpiper (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Pomarine Jaeger is recorded against all the birds logged in Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte] (15 verified sightings), 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.
