Big Gulp Black Skimmer 3 of 3

by Gary F Richards

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$250

Dimensions

2897.000 x 1931.000 pixels

Title

Big Gulp Black Skimmer 3 of 3

Artist

Gary F Richards

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

The black skimmer was unhappy with me, continuing to squawk and dive-bomb me while I took pictures of the flock and specifically a juvenile, possibly a female, that appeared to be making a nest in the sand right among the sunbathers (see Big Gulp Black Skimmer 2 and 3). I took this shot at my eye level less than two feet away as it was dive-bombing me and it appears to be taking a gulp out of the distant sunbather. This was on Lido Beach, Sarasota, Florida over July 4th weekend.

According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Birds of North America, the Black Skimmer (Rynchops Niger), one of North America's most distinctive coastal waterbirds, is noted for its unusual voice, bill, and feeding behavior. Its bill—brightly colored, laterally compressed, and knife-like, with the lower mandible extending beyond the maxilla—is uniquely adapted to catch small fish in shallow water. 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 (maxilla) snaps down instantly to catch it. The buoyant flight of this bird, coupled with its dog-like barks, prompted R. C. Murphy (Murphy 1936) to describe Black Skimmers as “unworldly…aerial beagles hot on the scent of aerial rabbits.”

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, while small or failed colonies usually relocate. Neither nest site limitation nor enhanced sharing of information about food appear to account for skimmer coloniality. Over most of its range, this species nests in colonies with various species of terns, deriving some protection from these aggressive neighbors. Although skimmers are active throughout the day, they are largely crepuscular and even nocturnal; their tactile feeding lets them catch fish successfully in low light or darkness.

Three races of Black Skimmer inhabit North and South America. The North American race (R. n. niger) is almost entirely coastal, while the South American races (R. n. cinerascens and R. n. intercedens), as well as the Indian Skimmer (R. albicollis) and the African Skimmer (R. flavirostris), nest mainly on riverine sandbars.

Uploaded

July 12th, 2019

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Viewed 609 Times  -  Last Visitor from Mount Laurel, NJ on 04/09/2024 at 2:03 PM

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