Skua sitting on nest with chick in background

The breeding season of the south polar skua coincides with that of their penguin prey. Adult skau will kill penguin chicks to feed their own young, they will also take full grown penguins, which are scavenged as carrion from the nearby colonies.

Bibliographic Details
Main Author:	Wharton, Yvette
Format:	Other/Unknown Material
Language:	unknown
Published:	School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland 2004
Subjects:	Bird Birds \| Land and Seabirds Aves Charadriiformes Stercorariidae - Skuas Chatharacta maccormicki - South Polar Skua Cape Bird Ross Island Antarc* Antarctica
Online Access:	http://dtlappprd01.its.auckland.ac.nz:1801/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=38487&custom_att_2=simple_viewer http://digitool.auckland.ac.nz:1801/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=38486

Description
Summary:	The breeding season of the south polar skua coincides with that of their penguin prey. Adult skau will kill penguin chicks to feed their own young, they will also take full grown penguins, which are scavenged as carrion from the nearby colonies.