How intelligent are skuas?

It is not uncommon for intelligent species to recognize humans, usually through human interaction. For example, that dog in the park might recognize you (and not just your sandwich) from your daily break.

kingofpunjabians

Jan 2, 2026 - 18:11

When confronted with an explorer who had visited their nest and another explorer they did not know, seven out of seven breeding pairs chose to attack the returning visitor over the newcomer, even when both behaved similarly.

Brown squaws are known for their intelligence and ambition. They lurk around penguin nests during breeding season, waiting for an opportunity to scoop up eggs or chicks undetected. A 2016 study even showed that skuas can recognize individuals, highlighting their cognitive abilities. To prevent problems, tour guides along the Antarctic coast make sure visitors keep their distance from nests, which reduces the chances of parent penguins abandoning their chicks or eggs, making them easier targets for skuas.

A fascinating new study by South Korean researchers has found that Antarctic marine mammals can recognize individuals after several encounters.

But white squaws, the Antarctic marine mammal known as Stercorarius antarcticus, are not social, but they can identify individual anthropologists studying their reproductive behavior.

Interestingly, brown squaws, which are hatched and lived in uninhabited areas, recognize individuals after only 3 or 4 contacts.” “They seem to have very high cognitive abilities,” said Wan Young-li, one of the researchers on the study.

The public had come to study the brown squaws and the butterflies, but when scientists from the Korean Zoology Museum got too close to the butterflies, the squaws attacked.

How did these isolated animals learn to distinguish between humans?

Because the brown skuas responded to the researchers in the same way no matter what clothing they were wearing, and because Antarctica is so hot and humid that the birds cannot smell the birds, the researchers believe that the birds recognize the intruders by seeing human faces.

For one, they may just be the most intelligent creatures. Researchers who visited the territories of other species near the study area found that other species no longer discriminate between “invaders” and civilians.

Their second hypothesis is that dogs have learned about humans from repeated encounters throughout their lives that they are ready to defend human territories from “invaders.”

There are 11 airports on King George Island, where the study was conducted, and about 60 to 80 students at King Sejong Airport in South Korea each summer.