Species
Parasitic jaeger
Stercorarius parasiticus
A sleek, falcon-like seabird that harries terns for their fish, sometimes seen from Georgia's beaches.
Photo AWeith (opens in a new tab) / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab)
At a glance
- Size
- About 41 to 48 cm long
- Weight
- About 330 to 610 g
- Habitat
- Open ocean and nearshore waters
- Diet
- Fish stolen from terns and gulls; birds and insects in the Arctic
- In Georgia
- An uncommon migrant and winter visitor, often seen from shore
- Voice
- Mostly silent at sea
- Rabies vector
- No
Identification
- Key marks
- Slim; pointed wings; white flashes in the wing; adults with pointed central tail feathers
- Told apart from
- Pomarine jaeger, which is bulkier with broad, twisted tail feathers
- Where to look
- Chasing terns near beaches in autumn
Behaviour
Parasitic jaegers chase terns and small gulls with fast, agile flight until the victim drops its catch.
Why they matter
This jaeger breeds right around the Arctic and winters on both coasts of the Atlantic. Its dependence on other seabirds' catches ties it closely to the health of tern and gull populations.
Reproduction and lifecycle
Nest — A scrape on tundra
Eggs — Usually two
Incubation — About 25 to 28 days
Chicks — Fed by both parents
Lifespan — Several years
Living around people
- A jaeger on land needs a rehabilitator.
Misconceptions
- A bird chasing a tern is attacking it. It is after the tern's fish, not the tern.
Related species
Seasonal activity
When this species is breeding, and when there are nests on the ground. Mowing during the shaded months is how most nests are found.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breeding | Jan: no | Feb: no | Mar: no | Apr: no | May: no | Jun: no | Jul: no | Aug: no | Sep: no | Oct: no | Nov: no | Dec: no |
| Active nests | Jan: no | Feb: no | Mar: no | Apr: no | May: no | Jun: no | Jul: no | Aug: no | Sep: no | Oct: no | Nov: no | Dec: no |
| Notes | Offshore | Offshore | Offshore | Migrating north | Migrants | Nesting in the Arctic | Nesting | Migrating south | Migrants near shore | Migrants | Offshore | Offshore |
Where it lives
Recorded in 25 states and provinces. Each one links to the other animals there, and to the rehabilitators licensed for them.
United States
Canada
If you found one
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