An Interesting Skua At Huttoft On November 2nd, 2001. by Mike Tarrant

A small skua was found on the beach at Huttoft and the initial impression was that it was in some difficulty for it seemed very inactive and reasonably approachable. However, this view was to be proved unfounded when later in the day it was seen harrying Common Gulls and even forcing one of them to disgorge a largish fish, which it was unable to swallow. It resorted to pecking at the fish and tearing off small pieces of flesh. Eventually, it was robbed of this meal by a Herring Gull. Not only did the skua look small, but its plumage seemed vaguely unfamiliar with a very white head, strong greyish-brown tones to the body but with brownish upperparts. Although a Long-tailed Skua was considered, this identification was dismissed as the plumage features on the bird were scrutinised and evaluated. Owing to the strength of barring on the flanks and undertail-coverts and the strength of the fringing of the upperparts feathers, the bird was aged as a juvenile. The paleness of the bird, when it was sitting on the beach, caused some initial difficulty in identifying it correctly, but when it stood up, the gingery tones, albeit subdued, to the fringing of the feathers on the underwing led to its identification as a juvenile pale morph Arctic Skua.

The following points led to this identification:-

1) Smallish-looking head with long slender bill; the head looking disproportionately small for the body.
2) Central tail-feathers had very short projections but they were pointed.
3) Pale hindneck looked atypical for Arctic Skua which generally show more gingery tones. This plumage feature is more akin to Long-tailed Skua.
4) Pale orange-brown leading edge to inner wing created by the lesser upperwing-coverts (only visible when wing was spread).
5) The normally strong rusty tinging to the upperpart feathering, although present, is much subdued in this individual. However, at least one lower scapular showed the typical rustiness.
6) In flight, showed pale uppertail-coverts, although they weren't barred. The central uppertail-coverts were dark, however.
7) The pale underwing bars showed only a slight warm tinge but were concolorous with those on the hindbody.
8) Apparently, about 10% of juvenile Arctic Skuas show pale primary flashes in the upperwing. This bird showed this feature in flight.
9) The primaries showed narrow, but distinct, pale tips, diagnostic when arranged as arrowhead marks as on this bird.
10) Dark streaking on the head, most conspicuous on the ear-coverts and the sides of the hindneck.
11) It shows a trace of a pale frontal blaze, where the upper mandible meets the feathering, although not as strong as on adults.
12) Narrow bill with the black tip covering the outer 30%.
13) Undertail-coverts were less distinctly barred than on juvenile Pomarine and Long-tailed Skua. Here are four digiscans of the bird and a photograph of a juvenile Arctic Skua at Saltfleetby in August for comparison.

Other Skua links on Lincolnshire Bird Club website

Long-tailed Skua
Pomarine Skuas in Lincolnshire Part 1.
Pomarine Skuas Part 2.

Juvenile pale morph Arctic Skua, at Huttoft on November 2nd, 2001. © Mike Tarrant

Juvenile pale morph Arctic Skua, at Huttoft on November 2nd, 2001. © Mike Tarrant

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