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Recordings
Width
117.0 cm
Length
46.0 cm
Similar species
Information
Uncommon passage migrant, scarce winter visitor and rare summer visitor. Probably more common offshore, where birds are rarely monitored. Like its relatives this bird will parasitize on seabirds, skillfully harrying them in the air so they will drop or disgorge their prey. It was previously called a Parasitic Jaeger
Where in Kuwait
Primarily a pelagic species with both a light and dark morph and is more often seen off-shore than near the coast where it has been observed obtaining its food through kleptoparasitism - it promptly eats this illicitly gained meal by catching it in mid-air or from the surface of the water.
In the world
It has an extremely large range with a stable population and breeds on the northernmost coasts of Eurasia and North America. It has an astonishingly large distribution, being native to countries in every continent except Antarctica, which it is known to visit. It is a transequatorial migrant, wintering on the southern tips of South America (as far north as Peru and Argentina), Africa (as far north as South Africa and Angola), and on the coasts of Australia and New Zealand, excluding the northern half of Australia. This marine species is predominately coastal but will migrate over land. It is a cunning ocean predator and is so named for its habit of stealing food from other birds, a behaviour known as ‘kleptoparasitism’
Local threats
Oil pollution