Jaegers and skuas | Stercorariidae

Jagers | Págalos | Jaegers and skuas

Gull-like in shape, but with a heavier chest, a strongly hooked bill made up of separate horny plates with a fleshy cere over the base, and sharp, curved claws on webbed feet; females are larger than males. The plumage is brown or grey-brown, in several species with a pale and a dark morph side by side, and a white patch at the base of the primaries flashes in flight. They live largely on what other seabirds catch, forcing gulls and terns in long chases to give up their prey, and they also take eggs, chicks and carrion. The five species in this guide breed elsewhere, three on the Arctic tundra and two on the coasts of southern South America and Antarctica, where they lay two eggs in a scrape and defend it with diving attacks; here they are visitors to the fish-rich waters of the Humboldt Current off the west coast.