Diet
This bird eats mainly fish, which it often obtains by robbing gulls, terns and even Northern Gannets of their catches. It will also directly attack and kill other seabirds, up to the size of Great Black-backed Gulls. Like most other skua species, it continues this piratical behaviour throughout the year, showing less agility and more brute force than the smaller skuas when it harasses its victims. A common technique is to fly up to a gannet in mid-air and grab it by the wing, so that it stalls and falls into the sea, where the Great Skua then physically attacks it until it surrenders its catch. It also eats small mammals, eggs, berries and carrion. Due to its size, aggressive nature and fierce defence of its nest, the Great Skua has little to fear from other predators. While fledglings can fall prey to rats, cats or the Arctic Fox, healthy adults are threatened only by greater raptors such as the Golden Eagle and the White-tailed Eagle, and more rarely by the Orca whale.
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