BTO-led research estimates a minimum Arctic Skua breeding population of 185,131–395,315 pairs across Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and Europe combined, but highlights a data gap for Asian Russia, where an additional 40,000–600,000 pairs could be present. Given this uncertainty, the Arctic Skua should perhaps be reclassified as ‘Data Deficient’ rather than ‘Least Concern’ by the IUCN Red List at a global scale.