Black Skimmer
Nikon - 300/2.8 + TC 1.7 (500mm) - 1/2000 @ f6.3 ISO 2500
The remarkable bill of the Black Skimmer sets it apart from all other American birds. The large red and black bill is knife-thin and the lower mandible is longer than the upper. The Black Skimmer has one of the most unusual foraging styles of any North American bird. A feeding skimmer flies low over the water with its bill open and its lower mandible slicing the surface. When the mandible touches a fish, the upper bill snaps down instantly to catch it.
Skimmers are highly social birds, nesting in colonies and forming large flocks outside the breeding season. Large, successful colonies usually occupy the same site from year to year.
The Black Skimmer is the only American representative of the skimmer family. The other two, rather similar, species are the African Skimmer and the Indian Skimmer. All use the same unusual feeding method.
Although the Black Skimmer is active throughout the day, it is most active at dawn and dusk. Its use of touch to catch fish lets it be successful in low light or darkness.
At hatching, the two mandibles of a young Black Skimmer are equal in length, but by fledging at four weeks, the lower mandible is already nearly 1 cm longer than the upper.
The oldest recorded Black Skimmer was at least 23 years, 1 month old, when it was recorded in California.
Black Skimmer
Nikon - 300/2.8 + TC 1.7 (500mm) - 1/2000 @ f6.3 ISO 2500
The remarkable bill of the Black Skimmer sets it apart from all other American birds. The large red and black bill is knife-thin and the lower mandible is longer than the upper. The Black Skimmer has one of the most unusual foraging styles of any North American bird. A feeding skimmer flies low over the water with its bill open and its lower mandible slicing the surface. When the mandible touches a fish, the upper bill snaps down instantly to catch it.
Skimmers are highly social birds, nesting in colonies and forming large flocks outside the breeding season. Large, successful colonies usually occupy the same site from year to year.
The Black Skimmer is the only American representative of the skimmer family. The other two, rather similar, species are the African Skimmer and the Indian Skimmer. All use the same unusual feeding method.
Although the Black Skimmer is active throughout the day, it is most active at dawn and dusk. Its use of touch to catch fish lets it be successful in low light or darkness.
At hatching, the two mandibles of a young Black Skimmer are equal in length, but by fledging at four weeks, the lower mandible is already nearly 1 cm longer than the upper.
The oldest recorded Black Skimmer was at least 23 years, 1 month old, when it was recorded in California.