* South Polar Skua  Stercorarius maccormicki

Texas Offshore Status: Two records from offshore Texas;  1 October 2004 and 15 October 2017. The 2004 bird, found on a Texas Pelagic trip from South Padre Island was accepted by the TBRC and is the first record for Texas and the Gulf of Mexico.

Gulf of Mexico Status: There are two other records in the Gulf; One skua at Marco Island Beach, FL from 27 Aug to 1 Sept 2017 and a second skua along the Florida panhandle and Alabama beaches from Gulf Shores to St Andrews SP from 31 July to 9 Sept 2020. (eBird)

Habitat: This Antarctic nester visits the western Atlantic Ocean during the summer months.

Similar Species: This species can be distinguished from Pomarine Jaeger by larger size, broader wings, and lack of barring in uppertail coverts.

* Texas Review Species, requiring written or photographic documentation to TBRC.
(2) Lower Texas Coast Status from Brad McKinney’s annotated checklist (updated 2009).

Seasonal Occurrence Graph

Texas Pelagics Sightings Distribution

This map shows the geographic distribution of South Polar Skua found in Offshore Texas (and Gulf of Mexico)
Click on the box in the upper left of the map to view the map legend.
Click on each sighting symbol and the data label will appear showing the time, date and the number of birds seen.
Click on the link on the bottom of the map to view a larger map.

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