Chilean Skua

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Chilean Skua
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Stercorariidae
Genus: Stercorarius
Species: S. chilensis
Binomial name
Stercorarius chilensis
(Bonaparte, 1857)

The Chilean Skua (Stercorarius chilensis) is a large predatory seabird. While nowhere near the size of birds such as the Wandering Albatross, the Chilean Skua makes up for it in sheer aggression towards other birds. While other skuas plunder the kills of smaller seabirds for food, this avaricious bird seems not to care about the food, but instead enjoys the act of harassing the smaller gull. Chilean Skuas have been known to fly in large groups (dubbed 'wolfpacks' by a Scottish whaler who observed the birds in action) and literally hunt other seabirds, including those much larger than themselves.

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