CreatureData

Chilean skua

Stercorarius chilensis Bonaparte, 1857

Status not recordedbirds

The chilean skua (Stercorarius chilensis) is a species in the family Stercorariidae, order Charadriiformes. Recorded adults weigh 1.36 kg to 1.53 kg and live up to 26.8 years.

Chilean skua (Stercorarius chilensis)
Photo: Arthur Chapman · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the chilean skua

Weight
1.36 kg – 1.53 kgsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Wingspan
1.3 m – 1.38 msrc for Wingspan
Lifespan
26.8 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
Longest recorded lifespan
34.5 years
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
marinesrc for Habitat
Egg incubation
29 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch
2src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
3.98 yearssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
1src for Litters or clutches a year
Lifestyle
Aerialsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Migratorysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Not recorded
Countries on record
Not recorded

How big is the chilean skua?

CHILEAN SKUA · WINGSPAN 1.38 MADULT HUMAN · HEIGHT 1.7 M
At 1.38 m, the recorded maximum wingspan of the chilean skua is about 81% of the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

Where does the chilean skua live?

Not recorded

What is the chilean skua?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The Chilean skua, also known as the cinnamon skua (Stercorarius chilensis), is a large predatory seabird, which breeds in Argentina and Chile, but ranges as far north as Brazil and Peru when not breeding. A relatively distinctive skua, it has a dark cap that contrasts with its cinnamon throat and lower face. Hybrids with the Falkland skua are known from southern Argentina.

Chilean skuas feed on fish and other seabirds, as well as scraps, and carrion. They breed in colonies during the Southern Hemisphere summer.

Overall, little is known about this South American species and what is known largely comes from descriptive studies scattered through time and concentrated at a few select breeding colonies.

From the Wikipedia article “Chilean skua” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chilean_skua&oldid=1380186195), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the chilean skua endangered?

No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.

How is the chilean skua classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderCharadriiformes
  5. familyStercorariidae
  6. genusStercorarius
  7. SpeciesStercorarius chilensis Bonaparte, 1857

Synonyms Catharacta chilensis, Catharacta skua chilensis, Stercocarius chilensis, Stercorarius antarcticus chilensis

Other names and names in other languages (40)
  • كركر تشيليArabic
  • Чилийски морелетникBulgarian
  • Sparfell-vor ChileBreton
  • paràsit de XileCatalan
  • chaluha chilskáCzech
  • Sgiwen MagellanWelsh
  • ChilestorkjoveDanish
  • ChileskuaGerman
  • ĉilia rabmevoEsperanto
  • Págalo chilenoSpanish
  • Escúa CanelaSpanish
  • Escúa comúnSpanish
  • Salteador AcaneladoSpanish
  • Salteador chilenoSpanish
  • tšiili ännEstonian
  • قاپوی شیلیPersian
  • chilenkihuFinnish
  • Labbe du ChiliFrench
  • Meirleach SileachIrish
  • חמסן צ'יליאניHebrew
  • čilski pomornikCroatian
  • chilei halfarkasHungarian
  • Stercorario del CileItalian
  • チリオオトウゾクカモメJapanese
  • čilinis plėšikasLithuanian
  • Łóóʼyiniʼįįhí yishtłizhígííNavajo
  • Chileense grote jagerDutch
  • kaneljoNorwegian
  • wydrzyk amerykańskiPolish
  • چلی سکواWestern Panjabi
  • moleiro-chilenoPortuguese
  • mandrião-chilenoPortuguese
  • Чилийский поморникRussian
  • pomorník čiapkatýSlovak
  • Čileanski pomornikSerbian
  • chilelabbSwedish
  • Şili KorsanmartısıTurkish
  • поморник чилійськийUkrainian
  • 智利賊鷗Chinese
  • 智利贼鸥Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMS

Relatives of the chilean skua

Other species in the same genus Stercorarius.

LC, Least Concern
Great skua (Stercorarius skua)

Great skua

Stercorarius skua

Stercorariidae

CompareChilean skua vs Parasitic jaegerChilean skua vs Great skuaChilean skua vs Pomarine jaegerChilean skua vs Long-tailed jaeger

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the chilean skua?

An adult chilean skua weighs 1.36 kg – 1.53 kg and has a wingspan of 1.3 m – 1.38 m, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

How long does the chilean skua live?

The chilean skua has a recorded lifespan of 26.8 years.

What kind of animal is the chilean skua?

The chilean skua (Stercorarius chilensis) belongs to the family Stercorariidae in the order Charadriiformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Chilean skua (Stercorarius chilensis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/chilean-skua

MLA

“Chilean skua (Stercorarius chilensis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/chilean-skua.

BibTeX
@misc{chilean_skua_2026,
  title = {Chilean skua (Stercorarius chilensis)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/chilean-skua},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}