Stercorarius antarcticus
Silhouette: Liam Quinn (photo) and Albertonykus (silhouette) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The brown skua (Stercorarius antarcticus), also known as the Antarctic skua, Subantarctic skua, southern great skua, southern skua, or hākoakoa (Māori), is a large seabird that breeds in the subantarctic and Antarctic zones and moves farther north when not breeding. Its taxonomy is highly complex and a matter of dispute, with some splitting it into two or three species: Falkland skua (S. antarcticus), Tristan skua (S. hamiltoni), and subantarctic skua (S. lonnbergi). To further confuse, it hybridizes with both the south polar and Chilean skuas, and the entire group has been considered to be a subspecies of the great skua, a species otherwise restricted to the Northern Hemisphere.
This is the heaviest species of skua and rivals the largest gulls, the great black-backed gull and glaucous gull, as the heaviest species in the shorebird order although not as large in length or wingspan. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rakiura National Park | 🇳🇿 New Zealand | |
| 2 | Garden Route National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Montevideo | 🇺🇾 Uruguay | |
| 2 | Sydney | 🇦🇺 Australia |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Brown Skua sighting in Rakiura National Park on a given day, based on 64 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 52nd most-seen of the 80 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
November
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Brown Skua in Rakiura National Park on a given day, against under 5% in December to October, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Brown 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.
Yes
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Brown Skua sightings, Rakiura National Park has the highest daily chance: under 5%. Next come Garden Route National Park (South Africa, under 5%) and Table Mountain National Park (South Africa, under 5%).
Same order: Charadriiformes
The closest relatives of the Brown Skua that you can see in Rakiura National Park (order Charadriiformes, Shorebirds and Allies) are Silver Gull (about 80%), VOC (about 80%) and Dominican Gull (about 70%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Brown Skua is recorded against all the birds logged in Rakiura National Park (64 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.
