# Long-tailed jaeger (*Stercorarius longicaudus*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/long-tailed-jaeger  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The long-tailed jaeger (Stercorarius longicaudus), also called Long-tailed skua or Buffon’s jaeger, is a bird in the family Stercorariidae and the order Charadriiformes. It is a small, migratory, aerial carnivore of marine habitats, classed as an aquatic predator. Adults weigh from 269.9 to 307.2 g, with a representative mass of 287.9 g and a wingspan of 1 m. It lays 2 eggs per clutch, one clutch per year, incubated for 23 days, and is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 269.9 g – 307.2 g |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Wingspan | 1 m |
| Lifespan | 11 years |
| Diet | Aquatic predator |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 22 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | marine |
| Egg incubation | 23 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 2 |
| Age at maturity | 3.5 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 longicaudus* Vieillot, 1819

Synonyms: *Lestris brachyrhynchos*, *Lestris longicauda*, *Letris buffonii*, *Stercararius lessonii*

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is the long-tailed jaeger?

The long-tailed jaeger is a bird in the family Stercorariidae, order Charadriiformes. It is migratory and lives in marine habitats.

### How heavy is a long-tailed jaeger?

Adults weigh from 269.9 to 307.2 g, with a representative value of 287.9 g. Its wingspan is 1 m.

### What does the long-tailed jaeger eat?

It is a carnivore classed as an aquatic predator, foraging in the air.

### Is the long-tailed jaeger endangered?

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

### How long does a long-tailed jaeger live?

Its lifespan is 11 years, with values up to 22 years reported by sources.

### How many eggs does the long-tailed jaeger lay?

It lays 2 eggs per clutch and has 1 clutch per year, with an incubation period of 23 days.

### When does the long-tailed jaeger reach sexual maturity?

It reaches sexual maturity at 3.5 years (1,278 days).

### Who named the long-tailed jaeger?

Its scientific name, Stercorarius longicaudus, was given by Vieillot, 1819.

## 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: Long-tailed jaeger (Stercorarius longicaudus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/long-tailed-jaeger