Long-tailed Jaeger
Overview
Long-tailed Jaeger: Small jaeger with gray upperparts, white breast, gray belly. Black cap covers eyes, crosses chin and ends at yellow nape. Upperwings are dark-edged. Tail is gray with black edges and long, black streamers. Legs are blue-gray and toes are webbed. Hovers before dipping for prey.
Range and Habitat
Long-tailed Jaeger: Breeds from Alaska to Greenland and south to the northern Ungava Peninsula. Spends winters off the coasts of the southern U.S. and South America. Nests on Arctic tundra. Spends winters over open ocean, usually staying offshore, and very rarely found inland.
INTERESTING FACTS
On migration, Long-tailed Jaegers are more likely to catch their own food, and less likely to steal from gulls and terns than larger species.
Juvenile birds sometimes hunt small prey in ploughed fields or golf-courses, and are typically quite fearless of humans.
This bird feeds mainly on lemmings, and numbers fluctuate with the food supply.
A group of skuas are collectively known as a "shishkab" of skuas.
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