Hi Peter,
Good job on the ID as it is indeed a 'Great' Skua. These are now called
Southern, Brown or Sub-antactic Skuas (take your pick as they are all the
same species) as the southern hemisphere forms have been split from the
northern hemisphere form which retains the common English name Great Skua.
As for the two tiny extended tail feathers you might be thinking of any one
of the three Jaegers which all have elongated central tail feathers and are
also commonly called Skuas...As adults in breeding plumage Arctic Jaegers
have a pair of short narrow central tail feathers, Pomerane have a pair of
broad spatulate shaped central tail feathers and Long-tailed Jaegers have
long thin central tail feathers.
Particularly nice that there's a massive marine mammal in the background of
your bird image!
Cheers,
Rohan
Rohan Clarke
www.wildlifeimages.com.au
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