The Subantarctic Skua Catharacta antarctica has a circum-

• Main Author: Short Communications
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antarctic; The Antarctic; Antarctic Peninsula; Esperanza; Coria; Esperanza Station; Antarc*; Antarctica; Pygoscelis adeliae; South Polar Skuas
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.670.7834; http://marineornithology.org/PDF/24/24_7.pdf

polar sub-Antarctic distribution and extends south along the islands of the Scotia Arc and the Antarctic Peninsula to about 65°S (Hemmings l984). Subantarctic Skuas are well known for their opportunistic feeding habits. They have been recorded as predators, scavengers, and kleptoparasites of a wide variety of organisms (Pietz l987). In addition, they feed on garbage from the bases established by man (Peter et al. 1990). Esperanza Station is located at Hope/Esperanza Bay (63°24'S, 56°59'W) on the northwestern side of the Antarctic Peninsula. In this area there are six breeding pairs of Subantarctic Skuas and one pair of South Polar Skuas C. maccormicki (N.R. Coria & D. Montalti unpubl. data) and a large Adélie Penguin Pygoscelis adeliae colony (l23 859 pairs, Myrcha et al. l987). The penguin colony provides a great quantity of food for skuas, and is the mean reason Subantarctic Skuas congregate here