See Also: skua(medicine)
skua(dictionary)
skua(encyclopedia)

skua (iou)



skua noun. L17.
[mod. Latin from Faeroese skuvur (mod. skugvur) from Old Norse skufr (app. imit., assim. to skufr tassel).]
Any of several large predatory sea birds of the genera Stercorarius and Catharacta, typically having brown or brown and white plumage, breeding in polar or cold regions, and with a habit of robbing other sea birds of food.
Arctic skua a common Arctic-breeding skua, Stercorarius parasiticus. great skua a large skua, Stercorarius (or Catharacta) skua, which breeds in subarctic and cold temperate regions. long-tailed skua an Arctic-breeding skua, Stercorarius longicaudus, having elongated central tail feathers. POMARINE skua. POMATORHINE skua. Richardson's skua: see RICHARDSON noun1.