The Chilean Skua breeds on islands and remote coasts of southern Chile and southern Argentina including Tierra del Fuego. It is the only skua that nests colonially. During the austral winter it moves north along the coasts as far as southern Peru and northern Argentina.

In the past some classifications have considered Great Skua Stercorarius skua, Chilean Skua S. chilensis, South Polar Skua S. maccormicki, and Brown Skua S. antarcticus as a single species but now they are ranked as separate species based on limited hybridization where in contact and on major biological differences among them. Recent genetic work has led the entire genus Catharacta to be included in Stercorarius.