Great Skua

Stercorarius skua

Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Stercorariidae
Presence in the Strait: Seasonal
Abundance: scarce
Protection in Spain: Special protection (List)
In Spanish: Págalo grande

Photograph: Ulrich Latzenhofer, CC BY-SA, vía iNaturalist

Length: 53–66 cm
Wingspan: 125–140 cm
Weight: 1,300–1,500 g

Presence in the Strait

Rare pelagic winter visitor, more common during migration. Summer visitors may be seen.

Identification

The largest of the Skuas. Similar in appearance and size to the Yellowlegged Gull, but extremely robust, with short tail and wide wings with white patches at the base of the primaries, both above and below.

Movements

Prenuptial migration peaks during March; postnuptial less obvious with peaks during August and October.

Ring recoveries

United Kingdom (3). Stercorariidae forma oscura lighter phase Págalo Parásito Págalo Parásito forma clara lighter phase Págalo Pomarino forma clara lighter phase Págalo Grande

Bioestrecho editorial text. Last revised: 8 September 2026.

Photographs from iNaturalist observations with the licence checked file by file. Those marked “Strait” were taken within the area; place and date are those of each observation.

Calendar in the Strait

17 %

Peak in November. Observations under CC0 or CC BY licences. The distribution also reflects observation effort.

Where it is seen

Open records from the atlas database, in cells of about 3.6 km. Opacity follows the square root of the count, and also reflects where people observe most.

See on the map

First open record: 12 March 1968
Latest record: 7 March 2025

The oldest and the most recent open observation in the extended area. A recent first observation does not mean the species is new: it means nobody had published it openly before.

Conservation

The catalogues, Andalusian and Spanish, are what binds; the Red Book assesses the Spanish population with IUCN criteria, and the global Red List is the context.

LCNTVUENCR

Andalusian Catalogue: Special protection (List)
Spanish Catalogue: Special protection (List)
Red Book of the Birds of Spain 2021: NE · Not evaluated · wintering or migrating
Global Red List (IUCN): LC · Least concern

Andalusian Catalogue: Junta de Andalucía, list of 24 April 2025. Spanish Catalogue: MITECO, table of 30 June 2025. Red Book: SEO/BirdLife, 2021 (Annex I). IUCN: via GBIF, 6 September 2026. Red Book and IUCN categories are assessments; catalogue categories are legal obligations.

Phenology compared

Monthly distribution in proportion, by decade. It shows whether the passage is getting earlier or later.

1990–1999

2000–2009

2010–2026

Proportions, not totals: observation effort grew faster than any population.

Where they come from

3 birds ringed in other countries and recovered in the area.

United Kingdom3

See the journey on the map

Same genus in the Strait

Parasitic Jaeger46–67 cm · Seasonal · overlapping size
Pomarine Skua65–78 cm · Migrant · overlapping size

Species of the same genus that also occur here, ordered by how close they are in size. Being relatives does not mean they are confused in the field, but that is where the doubts start: compare size and season.

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Stercorariidae
GBIF taxon key: 8308855

Sources

Distribution and calendar: Bioestrecho's own database, ingested from GBIF and OBIS
Photograph: Ulrich Latzenhofer, CC BY-SA, vía iNaturalist
Taxonomy: GBIF backbone, pending WoRMS for marine taxa
Editorial text: written by Bioestrecho
Last revised: 8 September 2026

Great Skua

Presence in the Strait

Identification

Movements

Ring recoveries

Gallery