The Pomarine Skua breeds in the arctic tundra from European Russia, through Siberia to North America and Greenland. They winter mainly north of the Equator off West Africa, for example, and off the south-east USA.

Like the Arctic Skua, there are two main plumage types: the light morph, as seen in these photos; and a dark morph. They look fairly similar to the Arctic Skua but, for most of the year, have a spoon shaped tail. They are also more gull-like in flight and have a deeper chest.