Invisible guardians
Question: On a recent visit to the Shetland Islands I noticed that the young
chicks of the great skua (Stercorarius skua), Arctic skua (
Stercorarius parasiticus) and other ground-nesting birds
such as lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) appear to wander around their
moorland breeding sites far from any visible parent. How do the parents find and
recognise their individual offspring again? Or if we had tried to approach the
young birds would we have discovered the parents were, after all, keeping a
close eye on them? It is known that both species of skuas fearlessly attack
humans.
Answer: Great and Arctic skuas are territorial, defending both moderately
sized and large areas. The chicks are able to leave the nest from the first day
after h