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<p>The <strong>South Polar Skua</strong>, <em>Stercorarius maccormicki</em>, is a large seabird in the [[skua ]] family Stercorariidae. An older name for this bird is <strong>MacCormick’s Skua</strong>. This species and the other large southern hemisphere skuas, together with Great Skua, are sometimes placed in a separate genus <em>Catharacta</em>.</p>
<p>This is a large bird at 53 cm length. It breeds on Antarctic coasts, usually laying two eggs in November and December. Like other skuas, it will fly at the head of a human or other intruder approaching its nest. It is a migrant, wintering at sea in the Pacific Indian and Atlantic Oceans. In the eastern North Atlantic it is replaced by the Great Skua.</p>
<p>The South Polar Skua eats mainly fish, which it often obtains by robbing gulls, terns and even gannets of their catches. It will also directly attack and kill other seabirds.</p>
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<div class="thumbinner" style="WIDTH: 242px"><img class="thumbimage" height="369" alt="South Polar Skua, Hannah Point, Livingston Island: 62°39'S, 60°36'W, Antarctic Peninsula" width="240" border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ac/Skua_%28js%29.jpg/240px-Skua_%28js%29.jpg" width="240" border="0" />
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<h2><span class="mw-headline">External links</span></h2>
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<li><a class="external text" title="http://www.gdargaud.net/Antarctica/Birds.html" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.gdargaud.net/Antarctica/Birds.html" rel="nofollow">Antarctic bird information and images</a> </li>
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