Species
Pomarine jaeger
Stercorarius pomarinus
A powerful, piratical seabird that chases gulls and terns to steal their catch, passing offshore in winter.
Photo Nigel Voaden (opens in a new tab) / iNaturalist, CC BY 4.0 (opens in a new tab)
At a glance
- Size
- About 46 to 51 cm long
- Weight
- About 550 to 850 g
- Habitat
- Open ocean
- Diet
- Fish stolen from other seabirds; lemmings on the Arctic breeding grounds
- In Georgia
- An uncommon winter visitor offshore; sometimes seen from shore
- Voice
- Mostly silent at sea
- Rabies vector
- No
Identification
- Key marks
- Heavy, gull-sized seabird; dark cap; white flashes at the base of the primaries; adults with long, twisted, spoon-shaped central tail feathers
- Told apart from
- Parasitic jaeger, which is slimmer with pointed tail feathers
- Where to look
- Offshore, chasing gulls and terns
Behaviour
Jaegers chase gulls and terns in the air until they drop their food, then catch it. On the Arctic tundra they hunt lemmings, and they breed only in years when lemmings are plentiful.
Why they matter
Jaegers link the Arctic tundra and the open ocean, and their breeding success depends on lemming cycles far to the north. Their aerial piracy is one of the most dramatic behaviours of any seabird.
Reproduction and lifecycle
Nest — A scrape on tundra
Eggs — Usually two
Incubation — About 25 to 27 days
Chicks — Fed by both parents
Lifespan — Several years
Living around people
- A jaeger found on land is almost certainly exhausted or injured and needs a rehabilitator.
Misconceptions
- Jaegers are gulls. They are skuas, a separate family of predatory seabirds.
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 offshore | Nesting in the Arctic | Nesting | Migrating south | Migrants | 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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