The scientists monitored skuas in Adélie Land and the Kerguelen Islands for ten years and showed that, when these seabirds exhibit high mercury levels in their blood, their breeding success decreases. (sciencedaily.com)
Unexpectedly, it is in the least contaminated species, the south polar skua, that the effects of mercury are the most obvious. (sciencedaily.com)
Birds exotic to Britain, such as species normally expected in the tundra to the north (like skuas, and hawk owls), the Mediterranean to the South (like alpine swifts) or the Eastern steppes (like demoiselle cranes and long - legged buzzards) lived together with birds expected in the region today (such as grey herons and wood pigeons). (sciencedaily.com)