Factors affecting the breeding success of south polar skua

Skuas are opportunistic top predators, and during the breeding season in Antarctica they adopt a wide range of feeding tactics that enable them to prey or scavenge on all profitable marine or terrestrial food resources according to their temporal and spatial availability.

Many skuas nest close to penguin rookeries, and Adélie penguins are an important component of their diet. However, in areas such as the Larsemann Hills (Princess Elizabeth Land) where there are no breeding penguins, the snow petrel (Pagodroma nivea), together with other seabirds, various marine foods and refuse (meat, fish and vegetable remains) from nearby stations, becomes the major dietary component of skuas. South Polar skuas have one of the longest migration flights of any bird, and they can range over huge areas of the ocean up to the north Atlantic and Greenland during the Antarctic winter.