- Stercorarius longicaudus
Identification
Long-tailed Jaeger: Small jaeger with gray upperparts, white breast, and gray belly. Black cap covers eyes, crosses chin and ends at yellow nape. Upperwings are dark-edged. Tail is gray with black edges and long, black streamers. Legs are blue-gray and toes are webbed. Sexes are similar. Juvenile is heavily barred and spotted gray, has white patches on underwings, white throat, white belly, and dark-tipped gray bill. Dark juvenile is darker overall, has gray throat, and lacks white belly.
Distribution
Long-tailed Jaeger: Breeds from Alaska to Greenland and south to the northern Ungava Peninsula. Spends winters off the coasts of the southern U.S. and South America.
Taxonomy
Habitat
Nests on Arctic tundra. Spends winters over open ocean, usually staying offshore, and very rarely found inland.
Behaviour
The breeding of the Long-tailed Jaeger on arctic tundra is closely related to the abundance of lemmings and mice, its principal summer food. These rodents undergo regular cycles of abundance and scarcity, and in years of scarcity the jaegers often do not breed at all.
Bird Song
<flashmp3>Stercorarius longicaudus (song).mp3</flashmp3>
Listen in an external program
