QUESTION:
What do the giant petrels do when the skuas come after them?  

                Pete, Sunnie Tait's Class,
                Wines Elementary
                Ann Arbor, Mi

ANSWER from Donna Patterson, Research Assistant, Dr. Fraser's Team
            Palmer Station, Antarctica
            Fri, 21 Feb 1997 16:10:33 -0500

Hi Pete,

When an adult giant petrel is being attacked by skuas, it usually 
means that the petrel is in the skuas' territory.  A skua that is 
defending their territory will fly down and hit the intruder in the 
head- sometimes the petrel is just passing through, and sometimes the 
petrels are trying to eat the skua chicks.   Because a petrel is 
built for cruising long distances, they are not the most graceful at 
landing and taking off without enough wind.  So, on a calm day, they 
might have to walk across an island to get back to their nest site.  
If they cross into a skua territory, the skuas will become defensive 
then too (not just when a petrel is eating their chicks!).   I have 
seen petrels just duck to avoid the skuas, others leave the skua 
territories as soon as possible!

Giant petrel chicks are left on the nest sites at a very small size 
and are rarely attacked by skuas.  The petrel chicks defend 
themselves by throwing-up an oil that is very damaging to the skua 
feathers, so they are left undisturbed when the parents are out 
feeding.  

Thanks for your question!
Donna