Stercorariidae Skuas and Jaegers

As their common name suggests (“jaeger” is German for hunter), these birds with strong hooked bills are raptorial birds of the open sea. Jaegers and skuas are relentless predators and pirates, terrorizing other seabirds in the vicinity by taking their eggs and chicks or stealing their captured prey. At their own nests, however, jaegers are model parents, protecting their young with a combination of attacks and distraction displays and feeding them a rich diet of smaller vertebrates throughout their nestling life. Like raptors, female skuas and jaegers are larger, and some skuas commonly form breeding associations of one female and two males (or more) raising the same brood together.