Stercorarius antarcticus
Silhouette: Liam Quinn (photo) and Albertonykus (silhouette) · PhyloPic
In 3 days >90%
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.
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands | 🇬🇸 South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands | |
| 2 | Antarctic Peninsula & South Shetland Islands | 🇦🇶 Antarctica | |
| 3 | Falkland Islands | 🇫🇰 Falkland Islands | |
| 4 | Rakiura National Park | 🇳🇿 New Zealand | |
| 5 | Garden Route National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 6 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Montevideo | 🇺🇾 Uruguay | |
| 2 | Sydney | 🇦🇺 Australia |
Very likely
About 90% of wildlife watchers report a Brown Skua sighting in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands on a given day, based on 1,136 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 3rd most-seen of the 37 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April and October–February
In those months about 90% of wildlife watchers report a Brown Skua in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands on a given day, against about 50% in June, the lowest month. July and August have too few records to rate.
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 6 parks where we can rate Brown Skua sightings, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands has the highest daily chance: about 90%. Next come Antarctic Peninsula & South Shetland Islands (Antarctica, about 70%) and Falkland Islands (Falkland Islands, about 60%).
Same order: Charadriiformes
The closest relatives of the Brown Skua that you can see in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (order Charadriiformes, Shorebirds and Allies) are Antarctic Tern (about 90%), Dominican Gull (about 90%) and Snowy Sheathbill (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 South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (1,136 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.
