David Hodgkinson

Long-distance migratory seabird coming to land only to breed. Breeds on high Arctic tundra’s or sub-Arctic Scandinavian mountain tundra’s. Breeds only in years when lemming densities reach a certain threshold. Feeds on marine invertebrates, carrion and kleptoparasites other seabirds during the non-breeding season. European breeding population 265,000-710,000. Stable population trend.

Season of assessment

B

Population trendFluctuating
Population size
(min-max, best estimate)		73200-161000,112000
Red List categoryLC
Franks, S., Fiedler, W., Arizaga, J., Jiguet, F., Nikolov, B., van der Jeugd, Ambrosini, R, Aizpurua, O., Bairlein, F., Clark, J., Fattorini, N, Hammond, M., Higgins, D, Levering, H., Skellorn, W., Spina, F, Thorup, K. Walker, J., Woodward, I. and Baillie, S.R. (1) (2022) Online Atlas of the movements of European bird populations. https://migrationatlas.org EURING/CMS (1) Principal investigator
Map

Overall Connectivity for Long-tailed Skua

Only one ring-recovery record exists. A juvenile ringed in 1992 at the Arctic breeding grounds in Finland was encountered dead at the Atlantic coast of France. Tracking has shown that Long-tailed Skuas winter off the coast of Angola and the Benguela Current off the coast of Namibia and South-Africa, sometime extending SW into the Indian Ocean (Gilg et al. 2013; van Bemmelen et al. 2017).

Recoveries by Condition for Long-tailed Skua

The one bird was encountered dead.

Annual Movements for Long-tailed Skua

Long-tailed Skuas migrate away from the breeding grounds in July-August to an important stopover in the middle of the Northern Atlantic, which is utilized during September (Davies et al. 2021). From October onwards, birds migrate to the wintering grounds and can use multiple areas during a single winter. Migration towards the breeding grounds is initiated in late April.

Connectivity by Month by Region for Long-tailed Skua

The one bird was ringed in July and recovered in August during southward migration.

Henk van der Jeugd

References

Statistics Map
N records N individuals N recoveries
Mapped data*
Total available data
*Mapped data include only distant (>= 50 km) recoveries
References Map
Davies, T. E., Carneiro, A. P., Tarzia, M., Wakefield, E., Hennicke, J. C., Frederiksen, M., ... Dias, M. P.2021 . Multispecies tracking reveals a major seabird hotspot in the North Atlantic. Conservation Letters 14 article no.: 12824 Link to Article (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12824)
Gilg, O., Moe, B., Hanssen, S. A., Schmidt, N. M., Sittler, B., Hansen, J., ... Bollache, L.2013 . Trans-equatorial migration routes, staging sites and wintering areas of a high-Arctic avian predator: the long-tailed skua (Stercorarius longicaudus). PloS One 8 article no.: 64614 Link to Article (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0064614)
van Bemmelen, R., Moe, B., Hanssen, S. A., Schmidt, N. M., Hansen, J., Lang, J., ... Gilg, O.2017 . Flexibility in otherwise consistent non-breeding movements of a long-distance migratory seabird, the long-tailed skua. Marine Ecology Progress Series 578 Link to Article (DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12010) : 197–211

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