Parasitic Jaeger Identification

Adult light morph

Powerful, gull-like seabird with angular wings and full-chested look. Breeding adults have central tail feathers roughly double the length of the tail. Light morph has sharply defined dark cap with white arc near the bill, a creamy neck, and pale underparts.

Nests on arctic tundra and hunts mainly birds and their eggs. Jaegers can occur in light, intermediate, and dark morphs. Dark morphs are all chocolate brown with pale patches in the outer wing.

Juvenile dark morph

Juvenile jaegers can be very difficult to identify to species. They always lack the distinctive tail feathers of breeding adults. Parasitic Jaegers have a smallish bill, a full-chested look, and moderate white flashes in the wing.

Immature light morph

Immature jaegers can be very difficult to identify. Parasitic Jaegers tend to be pale brown, particularly on the head, with little contrast on the rump. The white wing flashes appear on both the upperside and underside of the wing.

Subadult light morph

Immature jaegers can be very difficult to identify. Parasitic Jaegers tend to be pale brown, particularly on the head, with little contrast on the rump. The white wing flashes are variable in size.

Juvenile dark morph

Juvenile jaegers can be very difficult to identify. Parasitic Jaegers usually have a single white flash in each wing, whereas Long-tailed has a thin white edge to the wing and young Pomarines have a double flash in each wing.

Immature intermediate morph

Immature jaegers can be very difficult to identify. Size and shape along with fast, acrobatic flight style are most helpful but require experience. Look for the single white flash in the wings and relatively low contrast barring on the wing coverts and flanks.

Adult light morph

Adult light morphs have a dark cap with a pale spot or arc just before the bill.

Adult light morph

Breeds on tundra of the high Arctic.

Juvenile intermediate morph

Adult light morph