Black Skimmer

The Black Skimmer (Rynchops niger) is a tern-like seabird, very similar to birds from the Gull family. Though from the same family, they are also known to fight with (and also kill) Laughing Gulls. Skimmers may look cute, but they are pretty tough birds that lead quite exciting lives when observed closely. And this is precisely what this article is all about to get a closer look at the wonderful Black Skimmer!

About Black Skimmers

Out of all its various subspecies, Black Skimmers are the largest and toughest too. Black Skimmers measure 16–20 inches long with a 42–50 inch wingspan. This species ranges from 212-447 grams in weight, and the males are significantly larger than the females, averaging about 349 grams, as compared to the females that weigh only 254 grams. The basal half of the bill is red, the rest mainly black, and the lower mandible is much-elongated. The eye has a dark brown iris and catlike vertical pupil, unique for a bird. The legs are red and their call is a barking “kak-kak-kak”. 

If you’re an avid bird-watcher and admirer, Black Skimmers are a bird you definitely do not want to miss! Before indulging in the joy of watching these birds, it is integral to know a little more about them. In order to learn more about Black Skimmers, we’ll be jumping into the following topics to give you a clearer view of these amazing birds.

● Black Skimmer Photos, Color Pattern, Song
● Black Skimmer Size, Eating behavior, Habitat
● Black Skimmer Range and Migration, Nesting

GET KIDS BIRD WATCHING

Black Skimmer Color Pattern

Black Skimmers are starkly black above and white below, with black-and-red bills and orange-red legs. Juveniles are brownish above, with pale-edged wing covert feathers. The adults of this species have a bigger lower bill compared to the upper bill. They are larger than Terns and the sharp black and white contrast and red and black bills are distinctive characteristics of this species.

Immature Black Skimmers look similar to their adult counterparts but have more white on their necks and brown on their backs and wings.
 
Like most bird species, there is a clear distinction in color when looking at juveniles and adults. The adults are usually much brighter and solidly colored, while juveniles tend to be colored a little more sparsely. An adult black skimmer will be distinctively black and white, while a juvenile will have a little more of brown/grey in the black areas, still growing into their feathers. 

Description and Identification

Black Skimmers are “odd-looking” birds. It is quite easy to identify Black Skimmers through their color alone. They are very bright and distinct to look at, with sharp contrasts of black and white on their bodies and red and black on their beaks.

The easiest way to identify Black Skimmers is by looking at their beaks. These coastal, fish-eating birds have bills and their bills are very strange in that the lower one is larger than the upper one. At hatching, the two mandibles are equal in length, but by fledging at four weeks, the lower mandible is already nearly 1 centimeter longer than the upper.

Black Skimmer exhibit sexual dimorphism in that males tend to be larger than females, and it is therefore very easy to distinguish between the two. The Males have a larger wingspan compared to the females and are also bigger to look at, weighing a significant amount more than the females. 

Juveniles in this species are also very easy to identify. They have the same color pattern as the adults of the species but are more sparsely colored. The black areas of the juvenile Black Skimmer are on the browner side, and the white is much brighter than in the adults. The juveniles are also smaller and a little more awkward-looking than the adults. An extremely distinct feature of Black Skimmers is their feet, which is very contrasting to their bodies. Their feet are very short and bright red, matching their bills. The feet are also webbed, which helps them with hunting since they are
coastal fish-eating birds.

Another great way to identify Black Skimmer is through their song, described as a barking “Kak-Kak-Kak”. This brings us to the next section of this article.

Black Skimmer Song

It would be hard to characterize this section as “Song”, since Black Skimmers don’t sing, per se. The only vocalization of Black Skimmers is a nasal, yapping bark, given by both sexes in many contexts. They make these cries during flight, and bouts of foraging. Males tend to give calls slightly lower in pitch than females.

They also exhibit sounds of bill-clicking, when they catch prey and also sometimes during conflicts, to intimidate one another. The males also make their distinct sounds when trying to woo a mate.

Black Skimmer Size

Black Skimmers are medium-size Ternlike seabirds with very long wings and an outsized bill in which the lower mandible is much longer than the upper. They are relatively larger than Laughing Gulls and slightly smaller than Royal Terns (but with longer wings). 

The males are bigger than the females, growing up to 100 grams heavier than the females of the species. They average at 15.8-19.7 inches in length and have a wingspan average of 42.9-45.3 inches. 

Black Skimmer Behavior

Black Skimmers are a social species. They form colonies that consist of an aggregation of flocks containing both young and old birds. A group of Skimmers is collectively known as a “conspiracy”, “embezzlement”, and “scoop” of Skimmers.

In colonies, males and females form pairs. Black Skimmers are monogamous. There is no social hierarchy, but Black Skimmers tend to be highly territorial and defend their nest sites. Individuals communicate with one another both vocally and through posturing displays. Black Skimmers exhibit aggressive behaviors such as barking and posturing to defend a territory. They also engage in active and passive anti-predator behavior. Their unique foraging behavior is interesting and distinguishes them from other birds as they skim above the water with the long, lower mandible extended into the water to search for prey. They are successful nocturnal foragers but are also active during the day and at dusk and dawn. Black Skimmers clean themselves regularly. They bathe in freshwater and exhibit preening behavior. When sleeping, they tuck their heads into the feathers on their back.

Black Skimmer Diet

Black Skimmers are piscivores, their diet primarily consists of small fish from 4 to 12 centimeters in length. Fish that are smaller than 2 centimeters are fed to young birds. They also eat arthropods, such as crustaceans, and other marine invertebrates. 

Black Skimmers have a unique foraging behavior in which they fly low over the water while submerging their sharp, elongated lower mandible into the water. Once the prey comes into contact with the lower mandible, the upper mandible closes and the prey is captured. Their method of feeding allows them to be successful nighttime feeders.

Black Skimmer Habitat

Black Skimmers spend their entire lives in coastal areas, usually around sandy beaches and islands, although a few colonies can be found in inland locations with very large lakes, particularly in Florida and California. They primarily live in bays, estuaries, lagoons, mudflats, beaches, shell banks, spoil islands, and coastal marshes. Individuals nest mostly on the sand, salt marsh mats, and dredge spoil. They often choose sites near Terns.

Nesting birds use open sandy areas, gravel or shell bars with sparse vegetation, or broad mats of wrack (dead vegetation) in the salt marsh. Foraging birds frequent places that concentrate prey: tidal waters of bays, estuaries, lagoons, creeks, rivers, ditches, and saltmarsh pools. Because so many coastal habitats have been developed or
otherwise modified, Skimmers have become limited in their distribution over most of their range.

Range and Migration 

The Black Skimmer has a very large range of around 14 million square kilometers. It breeds in estuarine waters in the eastern and southern United States, and on large rivers and other wetlands in much of tropical South America. Although its global population has not been estimated, in North America, this species has a population of 65,000-70,000 breeding birds. Black Skimmers are Short- to medium-distance migrants. They forage between 5.2 and
8 kilometers from colony sites. 

Individuals from northern North America winter in the southern United States and South America or the Caribbean. Individuals from southern South America may winter farther north, but only as far as Costa Rica. Typically, northern populations of Black Skimmers migrate south in November.

Black Skimmer Lifecycle

Black Skimmer’s nest in colonies from a few pairs to several hundred. They return each year to areas where they have experienced past reproductive success. Prior to copulation, the male presents his mate with a fish. Both the male and female dig shallow scrapes in the sand, one of which will be the nest.

From mid-May to early June, the female lays a clutch of two to six eggs. Sandy-colored with brown speckling, the eggs are well camouflaged within their scrape nest. Both adults incubate the eggs from 21 to 25 days, and they hatch during mid-to-late June. By two weeks old, the young are able to elude predators. Young chicks are fed by their parents, but receive whole fish as they grow older. Initially, both the upper and lower mandibles of the bill are equal in length on young Skimmers. The bill appears adult-like, with a longer lower mandible, by the time they fledge at 23 to 26 days. If a predator or intruder threatens the colony, adults of both Skimmers and Terns take to the air and aggressively mob the intruder. Adult Skimmers may also perform a broken wing display, feigning injury to lure predators away from the nest. Black Skimmers can live to be as old as 20 years.

Nesting

The nesting season for Black Skimmers is from May to September. Both parents will take turns incubating the eggs and bringing home fish for the chicks. Black Skimmer chicks are “semi-precocial,” meaning they hatch covered in down feathers and can walk around just a few hours after hatching.
 

Anatomy of a Black Skimmer

Black Skimmers are decently sized birds, with their distinctive red and black bills. The basal half of the bill is red, the rest mainly black, and the lower mandible is much-elongated. The eye has a dark brown iris and catlike vertical pupil, unique for a bird. These birds are starkly colored black and white and have short, bright red webbed feet. With these characteristics, Black Skimmers are an adorably awkward sight. 

Final Thoughts

Black Skimmers are very intriguing birds. Apart from being very unique because of their distinct bills and short, red, webbed feet, they are extremely amazing to observe in nature. Their feeding, fighting, and mating habits are one of a kind, and they have a large range as well. This makes it easier to see Black Skimmers in the wild! 

As a bird-watcher, you have very high chances of seeing Black Skimmers due to their wide range, and ever-growing population! Their population is believed to be large and stable enough to warrant a conservation rating of Least Concern in the IUCN. This is an extremely good thing, given their importance in balancing the ecosystem.

These birds are natural predators to lots of small fish and crustaceans, whose populations would grow wildly out of control if not for Black Skimmers. They also hold very positive importance for humans, they served as food for people in the 20th century, and their booming population was good enough (and still is) to help sustain life. These amazing birds are very rarely seen as pests because they sometimes nest in areas and never leave. A funny example of this is when a “conspiracy” of Black Skimmers established a colony in the parking lot at a Dow Chemical Company facility in Texas, making it inaccessible to employees of the company.

So, who knows? Your chances of seeing these wonderful birds are so high, you may just spot an entire colony in a parking lot someday!

Ornithology

Bird Watching Academy & Camp Subscription Boxes

At the Bird Watching Academy & Camp we help kids, youth, and adults get excited and involved in bird watching. We have several monthly subscription boxes that you can subscribe to. Our monthly subscription boxes help kids, youth, and adults learn about birds, bird watching, and bird conservation.

Bird Watching Binoculars for IdentifyingBlack Skimmers

The most common types of bird watching binoculars for viewing Black Skimmers are 8×21 binoculars and 10×42 binoculars. Bird Watching Academy & Camp sells really nice 8×21 binoculars and 10×42 binoculars. You can view and purchase them here.

Black Skimmer Iron On Patches

Kids, Youth, and Adults love to collect our Bird Watching Academy & Camp iron on patches. Our bird watching patches help you keep track of the birds you have seen an identified. You can also display the patches on our Bird Watching Academy & Camp banners.

The Black Skimmer is a great iron on patch to start your collection with. The patches are durable and can be sewn on or ironed on to just about anything.

Black Skimmer Stickers

Stickers are a great way for you to display your love for bird watching and the Black Skimmer. We sell a monthly subscription sticker pack. The sticker packs have 12 bird stickers. These sticker packs will help your kids learn new birds every month.

Bird Feeders ForBlack Skimmers

There are many types of bird feeders. Bird feeders are a great addition to your backyard. Bird feeders will increase the chances of attracting birds drastically. Both kids and adults will have a great time watching birds eat at these bird feeders. There are a wide variety of bird feeders on the market and it is important to find the best fit for you and your backyard.

Bird HousesForBlack Skimmers

There are many types of bird houses. Building a bird house is always fun but can be frustrating. Getting a bird house for kids to watch birds grow is always fun. If you spend a little extra money on bird houses, it will be well worth every penny and they’ll look great.