To further confuse, it hybridizes with both the south polar and Chilean skuas, and the entire group has been considered to be a subspecies of the great skua, a species otherwise restricted to the Northern Hemisphere.

The latter is one of the highest colony mean body mass for any living species of shorebird.

[5] A study in 2016 reported that brown skuas can identify individual human beings, possibly indicating high cognitive abilities.

[6] Brown skuas have been noted for sometimes bonding with humans who live for extended periods in Antarctica, such as the Eastern Orthodox clergymen at Trinity Church, and engaging in playful or apparently mischievous behavior with them.

[7] There are three accepted subspecies:[8] It feeds on fish (often via kleptoparasitism), penguin chicks and other seabirds, small mammals, eggs and carrion.