Great vs Brown Skua

["Simon Blanchflower" <>]

Hi Chis, whilst I am not an expert on Skua taxonomy, I  think you will find 
that the Great Skua and Brown Skua are perhaps separate species although I 
think there is some debate about this (also could be significant 
hybridisation). As an ex-uk birder I am familiar with Great Skua (or Bonxie 
as it is often known in the UK) which is the northern hemisphere form / 
species, although some may argue that there is significant overlap between 
the two "species" in terms of geographic distribution. The southern 
hemisphere form / species is known by many as Brown Skua or Subantarctic 
Skua and this species has been particularly frequent off the Sydney coast 
this year. I also saw one off Long Reef on the week-end. I think many bird 
texts in Australia still lump these two "species" together and hence many 
refer to Great Skua.
Can anyone else add to this for Chirs?

Simon.