Stercorarius longicaudus

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Bibliography

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	AVES	CHARADRIIFORMES	STERCORARIIDAE

Scientific Name:

Stercorarius longicaudus

Species Authority:

Vieillot, 1819

Common Name/s:

English	–	Long-tailed Jaeger, Long-tailed Skua
French	–	Labbe à longue queue

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:

Least Concern ver 3.1

Year Published:

2009

Assessor/s:

BirdLife International

Reviewer/s:

Bird, J., Butchart, S.

Justification:
This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population trend appears to be stable, and hence the species does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size is very large, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.

History:

2008	–	Least Concern
2004	–	Least Concern

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	This species breeds in the high Arctic of Eurasia and North America, and has a circumpolar winter distribution in the Southern Oceans¹.
Countries:	Native: Antigua and Barbuda; Argentina; Australia; Austria; Barbados; Belgium; Brazil; Canada; Chile; Colombia; Cuba; Czech Republic; Denmark; Dominica; Ecuador; Egypt; Falkland Islands (Malvinas); Faroe Islands; Finland; France; Greenland; Guatemala; Hungary; Iceland; Indonesia; Israel; Italy; Japan; Latvia; Malaysia; Martinique; Mexico; Montserrat; Netherlands; New Caledonia; Northern Mariana Islands; Norway; Palau; Peru; Poland; Romania; Russian Federation; Russian Federation; Russian Federation; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Pierre and Miquelon; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Solomon Islands; South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; Svalbard and Jan Mayen; Sweden; Switzerland; Thailand; United Kingdom; United States; Vanuatu Vagrant: Angola; Bahamas; Belarus; Belize; Bermuda; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Botswana; Bulgaria; Cape Verde; Cayman Islands; Costa Rica; Croatia; Dominican Republic; Fiji; Germany; Greece; Guadeloupe; Haiti; Hong Kong; Iran, Islamic Republic of; Ireland; Jamaica; Jordan; Kenya; Kuwait; Liberia; Malta; Mauritania; Montenegro; Morocco; Namibia; New Zealand; Nigeria; Oman; Panama; Portugal; Qatar; Saint Helena; Senegal; Serbia; Slovakia; Slovenia; South Africa; Spain; Togo; Turkey; United Arab Emirates; Uruguay
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population:	In Europe, the breeding population is estimated to number 12000-78000 breeding pairs, equating to 36000-234000 individuals (BirdLife International 2004). Europe forms 5-24% of the global range, so a very preliminary estimate of the global population size is 150000-5000000 individuals, although further validation of this estimate is needed.

Population:

In Europe, the breeding population is estimated to number 12000-78000 breeding pairs, equating to 36000-234000 individuals (BirdLife International 2004). Europe forms 5-24% of the global range, so a very preliminary estimate of the global population size is 150000-5000000 individuals, although further validation of this estimate is needed.

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	This species is marine and highly pelagic, rarely occuring within sight of land except when breeding. It feeds mainly on lemmings during the summer but will also take shrews, many insects, berries and small birds when microtines are scarce. Its winter diet is largely unknown, but probably includes marine insects and fish with some scavenging and kleptoparasitism. Breeding begins in June with birds widely scattered over the Arctic and subarctic or montane tundra, up to 1300 m in Scandinavia. It is highly territorial¹.
Systems:	Terrestrial; Marine

Habitat and Ecology:

This species is marine and highly pelagic, rarely occuring within sight of land except when breeding. It feeds mainly on lemmings during the summer but will also take shrews, many insects, berries and small birds when microtines are scarce. Its winter diet is largely unknown, but probably includes marine insects and fish with some scavenging and kleptoparasitism. Breeding begins in June with birds widely scattered over the Arctic and subarctic or montane tundra, up to 1300 m in Scandinavia. It is highly territorial¹.

Systems:

Terrestrial; Marine

Bibliography [top]

	del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J. 1996. Handbook of the Birds of the World, vol. 3: Hoatzin to Auks. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain.

del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J. 1996. Handbook of the Birds of the World, vol. 3: Hoatzin to Auks. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain.

Citation:	BirdLife International 2009. Stercorarius longicaudus. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 21 May 2012.
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