Stercorarius pomarinus
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
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 Svalbard on a given day, based on 77 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 30th most-seen of the 48 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Pomarine Jaeger in Svalbard on a given day, against under 5% in February–May and July–October, the lowest months. November to January have too few records to rate.
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.
Yes
Of the 16 parks where we can rate Pomarine Jaeger sightings, Svalbard has the highest daily chance: under 5%. Next come Kenai Fjords National Park (United States, under 5%) and El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve (Mexico, under 5%).
Same genus: Stercorarius
The closest relatives of the Pomarine Jaeger that you can see in Svalbard (genus Stercorarius, Skuas and Jaegers) are Parasitic Jaeger (about 80%), Great Skua (about 20%) and Long-tailed Jaeger (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 Svalbard (77 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.
