Long-tailed Jaeger
Stercorarius longicaudus

1/250s at f18, ISO:800, Nikon D300S w 17-55mm zoom at 17mm and fill flash

\"Long-tailed Jaeger,\" Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The Long-tailed Jaeger, Stercorarius longicaudus (known as the Long-tailed Skua outside the Americas) is a seabird in the skua family Stercorariidae. This is the smallest of the skua family at 38–58 cm (15–23 in), depending on season and age. However, much of this, up to 29 cm (11 in), is comprised by the tail which may include the 15 cm (5.9 in) tail streamers of the summer adult. The wingspan of this species ranges from 102 to 117 cm (40 to 46 in) and the body mass is 230–444 g (8.1–15.7 oz). This species breeds in the high Arctic of Eurasia and North America, with major populations in Russia, Alaska and Canada and smaller populations around the rest of the Arctic. It is a migrant, wintering in the south Atlantic and Pacific. Passage juvenile birds sometimes hunt small prey in ploughed fields or golf-courses, and are typically quite fearless of humans.

Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, Canada

07/02/2011