Stercorarius pomarinus

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	AVES	CHARADRIIFORMES	STERCORARIIDAE

Scientific Name:

Stercorarius pomarinus

Species Authority:

(Temminck, 1815)

Common Name/s:

English	–	Pomarine Jaeger, Pomarine Skua
French	–	Labbe pomarin

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:

Least Concern ver 3.1

Year Published:

2012

Assessor/s:

BirdLife International

Reviewer/s:

Butchart, S. & Symes, A.

Contributor/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:

2009	–	Least Concern
2008	–	Least Concern
2004	–	Least Concern

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	The Pomarine Jaeger breeds in the far north of Eurasia and North America. It is a transequatorial migrant, mostly wintering between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn and along the coastlines of Australia and Argentina¹.
Countries:	Native: Algeria; Angola (Angola); Antigua and Barbuda; Argentina; Aruba; Australia; Austria; Azerbaijan; Bahamas; Bahrain; Barbados; Belgium; Belize; Bermuda; Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba; Brazil; British Indian Ocean Territory; Brunei Darussalam; Bulgaria; Canada; Cape Verde; Chile; China; Colombia; Costa Rica; Côte d'Ivoire; Cuba; Curaçao; Czech Republic; Denmark; Djibouti; Dominica; Ecuador; Egypt; Eritrea; Faroe Islands; Finland; France; French Guiana; Gambia; Germany; Ghana; Gibraltar; Greenland; Guadeloupe; Guatemala; Guyana; Hungary; Iceland; India; Indonesia; Iran, Islamic Republic of; Ireland; Israel; Italy; Japan; Kenya; Kiribati; Kuwait; Lebanon; Liberia; Malaysia; Maldives; Malta; Marshall Islands; Martinique; Mauritania; Mexico; Montserrat; Morocco; Myanmar; Namibia; Netherlands; New Caledonia; Nicaragua; Nigeria; Northern Mariana Islands; Norway; Oman; Pakistan; Palestinian Territory, Occupied; Panama; Peru; Philippines; Poland; Portugal; Puerto Rico; Qatar; Romania; Russian Federation; Russian Federation; Russian Federation; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Martin (French part); Saint Pierre and Miquelon; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Saudi Arabia; Senegal; Sierra Leone; Sint Maarten (Dutch part); Slovakia; Solomon Islands; South Africa; Spain; Sri Lanka; Suriname; Sweden; Switzerland; Thailand; Trinidad and Tobago; Tunisia; Turkmenistan; Turks and Caicos Islands; United Arab Emirates; United Kingdom; United States; Uruguay; Vanuatu; Venezuela; Virgin Islands, British; Virgin Islands, U.S.; Western Sahara; Yemen Vagrant: Antarctica; Belarus; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Congo; Croatia; Fiji; Greece; Guinea-Bissau; Haiti; Hong Kong; Jordan; Kazakhstan; Korea, Republic of; Latvia; Luxembourg; Montenegro; New Zealand; Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha; Serbia (Serbia); Slovenia; Somalia; Tanzania, United Republic of; Togo; Turkey Present - origin uncertain: Anguilla; Benin; Cambodia; Cayman Islands; Christmas Island; Comoros; Dominican Republic; El Salvador; Equatorial Guinea; French Southern Territories (the); Grenada; Guinea; Honduras; Jamaica; Madagascar; Micronesia, Federated States of; Mozambique; Norfolk Island; Palau; Papua New Guinea; Sao Tomé and Principe; Seychelles; Sudan; Taiwan, Province of China; Timor-Leste; Tuvalu; Viet Nam; Wallis and Futuna
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population:	In Europe, the breeding population is estimated to number c.20,000-50,000 breeding pairs, equating to c.60,000-150,000 individuals (BirdLife International 2004). Europe forms 5-24% of the global range, so a very preliminary estimate of the global population size is c.250,000-3,000,000 individuals, although further validation of this estimate is needed. National population estimates include: < c.1,000 individuals on migration in Taiwan; c.50-1,000 individuals on migration and c.50-1,000 wintering individuals in Korea; c.50-10,000 wintering individuals in Japan and c.100-100,000 breeding pairs and c.50-10,000 individuals on migration in Russia (Brazil 2009).
Population Trend:	Stable

Population:

In Europe, the breeding population is estimated to number c.20,000-50,000 breeding pairs, equating to c.60,000-150,000 individuals (BirdLife International 2004). Europe forms 5-24% of the global range, so a very preliminary estimate of the global population size is c.250,000-3,000,000 individuals, although further validation of this estimate is needed. National population estimates include: < c.1,000 individuals on migration in Taiwan; c.50-1,000 individuals on migration and c.50-1,000 wintering individuals in Korea; c.50-10,000 wintering individuals in Japan and c.100-100,000 breeding pairs and c.50-10,000 individuals on migration in Russia (Brazil 2009).

Population Trend:

Stable

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	This species is marine outside the breeding season, remaining somewhat coastal, especially in upwelling regions of the tropics and subtropics. Whilst breeding it specialises on catching lemmings which frequently constitute over 90% of their diet, also feeding on young waders and gamebirds, bird eggs, carrion. In winter it takes fish, sometimes by kleptoparasitism, small seabirds, and scavenges on carrion. Breeding begins in June at scattered sites across the tundra where lemming concentrations are high. Individuals are highly territorial. Outside the breeding season it migrates south including long migrations over land (del Hoyo et al. 1996).
Systems:	Terrestrial; Freshwater; Marine

Habitat and Ecology:

This species is marine outside the breeding season, remaining somewhat coastal, especially in upwelling regions of the tropics and subtropics. Whilst breeding it specialises on catching lemmings which frequently constitute over 90% of their diet, also feeding on young waders and gamebirds, bird eggs, carrion. In winter it takes fish, sometimes by kleptoparasitism, small seabirds, and scavenges on carrion. Breeding begins in June at scattered sites across the tundra where lemming concentrations are high. Individuals are highly territorial. Outside the breeding season it migrates south including long migrations over land (del Hoyo et al. 1996).

Systems:

Terrestrial; Freshwater; Marine

Citation:	BirdLife International 2012. Stercorarius pomarinus. In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 20 May 2013.
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