Long-tailed Jaeger (Stercorarius longicaudus)

Identification & Behavior: ~39.5 cm (15.5 in). The Long-tailed Jaeger is the least variable of the jaegers. Juvenile birds range in color from dusky to light gray. The adult has a gray back a dusky cap and white in most of the underparts and neck. The two central tail feathers are pointy and project beyond the other tail feathers. It is distinguished from the Parasitic Jaeger by a longer pair of tail feathers projecting out the tail, a reduced black cap that extends towards the nape and not having a gray breast band. Juvenile birds have a gray head and neck.

Status: The Long-tailed Jaeger is a rare Boreal migrant to the coast of Peru. It is generally present at distances further than 80 km from the coast during the months of October through May. It also occurs in Co, Ec, Br, and, Ch.

Name in Spanish: Salteador de Cola Larga.

Sub-species: Long-tailed Jaeger (Stercorarius longicaudus pallescen),  Løppenthin 1932.

Meaning of Name: Stercorarius: L. Stercus, stercoris manure= manure, a reference to how the bird seeks its food by attacking other birds until they regurgitate. longicaudus: L. longus= Long and cauda, caudatus=tail.

See more of the Family Stercorariidae