the 4 types of the robbery-seagulls forms an independent family. It is mainly brown-colored, very seagull-similar birds of the high north (Arctic) or the Antarctica, whose powerful beak runs out at the top into a strong hook and shows a structure of the horn-beak (this with robbery-seagulls multisectional is), different from the seagulls. The 4 toes carry powerful claws. With exception of the big robbery-seagull or Skua (Stercorarius skua), the two middle tax-feathers are extended with adult robbery-seagulls. Also, the 3 smaller types 2 color-phases (beside monochrome dark brown birds comes also animals with white neck, and breast-parts as well as yellow head, and neck-sides before) train.
Nutrition Skuas are very versatile and adaptable in its food-election. The most known type of the loot-acquisition probably is taking away of the loot of other seabirds. Particularly seagulls and terns become on that occasion, but even also dolts, Albatrosse and petrels as well as many other bird-types of the very flight-deft food-parasites in the air or on the water presses, drops until it its food from the beak or forth-chokes again. Often, robbery-seagulls catch the food-scrap already in the air.
But also the nestlings and squabs of other seabird-types as well as various sea-bull (fish, mollusks, cancers), carrion and small mammals (particularly Lemminge) belong to the loot of robbery-seagulls. In times of need, they even are content with plant-food. In contrast to this strongly on fish of specialized seagulls has the Skua-Arten in its intestine-section, that is very important for the digestion of so different food, quite big blind-sacks.
Big robbery-seagull or Skua The most strongly at "robbery", the 57-58 cm are put in big and 1,2-1,6 kg of heavy Skuas (Stercorarius skua). The females become somewhat bigger than the male animals; with spans, up to 1,5 m are it persevering planes, that don't leave out the pole-areas on its expeditions themselves and take over the role of the gripping-birds particularly in the Antarctica (where Skuas more frequently than on the northern hemisphere are). Even adult birds kill it from time to time by crunching neck and head of its victim. In the brood-colonies of the penguins, who are the most frequent vertebrates in the Antarctica, big robbery-seagulls get its share of unguarded squabs regularly.
Further robbery-seagulls Also the 46-48 cm big parasite-robbery-seagull (Stercorarius parasiticus), with a span of 1 m and 0,3-0,6 kg of weight, lives from nests and squabs for the most part, while the spatula-robbery-seagull or middle robbery-seagull (St). pomarinus, and the little one robbery-seagull or falcon-robbery-seagull, St. longicaudus, is specialized more on small-mammals.
Spread The spread-area of the Skua stretches over both the North-Atlantic (brood-areas lie on Iceland, the Färöern, of Shetland and Orkney-Insel as well as in North-Scotland) and over the Antarctica for itself: Brooding Skuas were found even 300 km in the Königin-Maud-Land, in 1500-2000 m of height, inland. Robbery-seagulls live in the coasts of South America and New Zealand as well as numerous sub-antarctic islands. Outside the incubation, big robbery-seagulls move far also in direction of the equator over the open sea.
The 51-56 cm big falcon-robbery-seagull (weight by 0,3 kg), despite this length, the smallest type of the family, is there the middle tax-feathers tower above the remaining tail up to 25 cm far. its brood-area is enough over the arctic coasts of Greenland and Eurasia as far as after North America. Also the 50-55 cm big and approximately 0,5 kg breeds heavy spatula-robbery-seagulls (span until 1,2 m) as well as the parasite-robbery-seagulls in tundras, bogs, heaths and grassland-ships of the entire arctic and sub-arctic region.
Reproduction The nests of the robbery-seagulls consist of flat deepenings in the gravel or Bodenbewuchs, that are padded only little or not at all. Usually, the birds nest individually or in relaxed colonies, only parasite-robbery-seagulls meet also to big brood-communities.
The nest consists of 2, more rarely also from 1-3 eggs, normally, that 23 (falcon-robbery-seagull), 24-28 (parasite-robbery-seagull), 27-28 (spatula-robbery-seagull) from both alto-birds or for 28-30 days erbrütet (Skua) becomes. The Dunenjungen can often around-run after 2 days; both brood-partners look after the squabs until these become fully-fledged after 3-4 weeks. In the age of 6-8 weeks, young robbery-seagulls leave the family-association.
Scientific name: