# Great skua (*Stercorarius skua*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/great-skua  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The great skua (Stercorarius skua), also called the Bonxie, Brown skua or Northern skua, is a bird in the family Stercorariidae and the order Charadriiformes. It is a medium-sized bird with an adult body mass of 1.5 kg (from 1.34 to 1.94 kg) and a wingspan of 1.36 m. The great skua is a migratory, aerial carnivore of marine habitats, classed as an aquatic predator. It lays 2 eggs per clutch, one clutch per year, incubates them for 29 days, and reaches sexual maturity at 5 to 6 years; it is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 1.34 kg – 1.94 kg |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Wingspan | 1.36 m |
| Lifespan | 32.9 years |
| Diet | Aquatic predator |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 34.5 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | marine |
| Egg incubation | 29 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 2 |
| Age at maturity | 4.99 years – 6 years |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1 |
| Lifestyle | Aerial |
| Migration | Migratory |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Charadriiformes
- family: Stercorariidae
- genus: Stercorarius
- species: *Stercorarius skua* (Brünnich, 1764)

Synonyms: *Buphaga skua*, *Cataracta fusca*, *Cataractes skua*, *Catarracta skua*, *Catarractes fusca*, *Catarractes skua*, *Catarractes vulgaris*, *Catharacta skua*, *Catharacta skua skua*, *Larus catarractes*, *Larus fuscus*, *Larus keeask*, *Lestris catarractes*, *Lestris skua*, *Megalestris skua*, *Stercocarius skua*, *Stercorarius cataractes*, *Stercorarius skua skua*, *Stercorarius skua skua*

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is the great skua?

The great skua is a bird in the family Stercorariidae, order Charadriiformes. It is also called the Bonxie, Brown skua or Northern skua.

### How heavy is the great skua?

An adult Great skua weighs 1.5 kg, with reported values from 1.34 to 1.94 kg. Its wingspan is 1.36 m.

### What does the great skua eat?

The great skua is an aquatic predator and a carnivore.

### Is the great skua endangered?

No. The great skua is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.

### How long does the great skua live?

The great skua has a lifespan of 32.9 years, with values up to 34.5 years reported.

### How many eggs does the great skua lay?

The great skua lays 2 eggs per clutch and has 1 clutch per year. The eggs are incubated for 29 days.

### Does the great skua migrate?

Yes, the great skua is migratory. It lives in marine habitats and forages in the air.

### Who named the great skua?

The great skua, Stercorarius skua, was named by (Brünnich, 1764).

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), CC BY 4.0, v7. Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Great skua (Stercorarius skua). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/great-skua