South Polar Skua

How to find it

Look at sea, not from shore. In North American waters this skua is almost never seen from land, and it turns up well offshore where many other seabirds gather and it can steal their food. A boat trip is the way to see it. Pacific waters and the seamounts around Cocos Island are the likeliest places in Costa Rica. Watch near fishing boats, schools of small fish and offshore shallows, and scan for a heavy bird chasing gulls, terns or other seabirds. Ships and fishing boats may draw it in.

How to recognise it

This is a large, heavy seabird, 50 to 55 cm long with a wingspan of 130 to 140 cm. Even from far away you can pick out three things:

- its large size

- its deep barrel chest

- its white wing flashes

Adults come in a pale form and a dark form. The pale form has a light brown head and body with a dark back and wings, so the head and underparts look straw-brown against grey-brown upperparts. That contrast makes it easy to separate with good views. The dark form is all dark brown.

In flight the wings are broad, and bold white crescents near the wingtips stand out. Look also for a thick bill, white flashes under the wing and white feather shafts in the upper wingtips. The flight is direct and powerful.

Juveniles and dark adults are harder. Look for colder brown plumage with no rufous (reddish-brown) in it, and a bluish bill base.

What it sounds like

Recording: stevestevens, CC0 1.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

This skua mostly eats fish at sea, and it is best known for stealing. It often takes food from gulls, terns and gannets, and it relies on strength more than agility. It may seize a shearwater or gull in its bill and shake it hard until the bird gives up its catch.

It also feeds by plunging into the sea for fish or grabbing prey at the surface. Where bigger Brown Skuas rule the penguin colonies, it has to hunt at sea. Outside the breeding season it often follows ships and fishing boats.

Where it lives

The South Polar Skua is a bird of the open ocean. It breeds on bare ground in Antarctica and ranges over both warm and very cold seas.

Away from the breeding grounds it stays far offshore. It favours areas near fishing boats, schools of small fish and offshore shallows, and is only occasionally seen closer to land.

In Costa Rica, lodge accounts say sightings are uncommon but happen on both the Pacific and Caribbean coasts, along beaches and in offshore waters. Avibase treats it as rare or accidental for a region that includes Cocos Island.

When to see it

It travels north during the southern winter, roughly May to September, and Costa Rican sightings are said to fall in that migration season and to be uncommon.

Similar birds

It is fairly easy to tell from the jaegers (Arctic, Pomarine and Long-tailed). Dark jaegers may lack tail points, and the skua's wings are broader with bolder white patches. Pomarine Jaeger can show a dark breast band, which the skua lacks. It is harder to separate from the Great Skua and other big southern skuas, and it lacks the rusty underwing and throat and the dark cap of the Chilean Skua.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

The Spanish name on the Costa Rican list is Salteador Polar. Other Spanish names include Págalo polar, Págalo antártico and Escúa polar. The scientific name honours Robert McCormick, a 19th century naval surgeon and explorer.

Status and conservation

The official Costa Rican list codes it A-SC, an accidental species with no accepted physical evidence yet, though worldwide it is rated Least Concern.

Photography tips

Photography here means boat work. Fishing boats and schools of small fish are where it may appear, so keep the camera ready for a heavy bird harrying other seabirds. The white wing crescents are the feature to frame.