Other Birds of Prey
Besides having adorable penguins down in Antarctica you also have lots of birds that can actually fly. The Skua is one of those birds, which typically always seems to get vilified because one of its main sources of food during the summer season is penguin eggs and chicks. Hence, a lot of people do not like this particular bird due to their summer diet but they themselves have chicks they must feed and those chicks are really adorable too.
This day we were cruising around the ice in a protected harbour when we found a lone Skua snacking on something and as we got closer we realized that it was eating a juvenile of another flying bird species, a Kelp Gull. Apparently, a flock of Skuas actually attacked and killed the Kelp Gull shortly before I arrived on scene with my zodiac. As you can see there is basically no breast meat left on the bird and this last Skua is getting what they can/what is left on the deceased young Kelp Gull. It is truly a brutal and harsh world down here for all the species that all this place home.
Click image to view full size
Dont forget to Upvote & Resteem!!!
All stories & photographs are of my own work unless noted under the picture in question.
For more stories and photos check out my Instagram feed
Check out my website - Just BCOZ Photography
You’d be surprised the amount of birds that eat meat even my African gray parrot loves nothing more than a chicken leg. Thanks mike
Anytime! I am glad you liked the photo and post.
nice :) Cheers!
Thank you!
Love the brutal reality of life for these amazing birds. Cool stuff.
Me too! It is a cruel and world down this way for the animals that live here
Me too! It is a cruel and world down this way for the animals that live here
Me too! It is a cruel and world down this way for the animals that live here
I remember sitting in a writing class with a local naturalist (Maxwell Corydon Wheat, Jr.), who was also the Poet Laureate of Nassau County, NY. It goes without saying Max was a gentle soul (no longer with us). He used to take groups into the local wetlands, and identify plant and bird species. Max didn't like cats too much. He explained he wasn't fond of cats because they killed birds. I reminded him that birds are hunters, too. It's the cycle of life. He was fair...what a man. He agreed. But I think he still harbored his dislike of cats because they kill birds. Humans may be rational, and a poet laureate may be gifted with unusual rationality. But our response to death... the death of a kelp gull, for example, is still emotional.