The Bonxie

The great Skua (Stercorarius skua) is generally called Bonxie in West Scotland. It is  a large gull and not a bird of prey, although they chase other birds. A very well known technique they use to catch fish is to assault Gannets and force them to drop their catch, which they will take for themselves.

The Bonxies on St. Kilda also eat other birds. We saw Bonxies chase Oystercatchers, Puffins and Pigeons. They try to wear them out over sea and then push them in the water until they drown. 

Only on St. Kilda Bonxies chase by night on Leach's storm petrels. This behavior is very remarkable for seabirds.

Bonxies were not on St. Kilda in the 19th century. The first recorded breeding on St. Kilda is in 1963.The breeding population increased steadily until 1990 and now the colony is the second largest and fastest growing colony in the UK.

Bonxies can be furious attackers to humans, especially when defending their nests or their young.
By crossing Mullach Mór and Gléan Mór, there were a lot of nests and small Bonxie chicks. We usually took a large stick with us, so the Bonxies would attack the stick instead of our heads.

Not a very good picture of a Bonxie attack

Despite their brigand reputation, I can't help to admire these birds. They seem intelligent to me, because they learned to adapt to an environment where they were not common before.