Painted

1910

Published

1932

Volume

2

Plate

80

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Black Skimmer

Rynchops nigra

DESCRIPTION

Topsail Inlet was shallow. Night and the tide were falling. I jogged the Phalarope off-and-on just outside the breaker-line, watching for a high wave. We squared away before the advancing crest, took the break on the bar and shot over in a turmoil of foam into a perfect little harbor under the southern sand point.

I went forward to hang the riding light on the jib toppinglift. Down wind came a chorus of barks followed by the "dogs" — a flock of about twenty BLACK SKIMMERS. The company divided and swung past the sloop on both sides — aerial cavalry on the march with red bills taking glints from the glowing western sky. At intervals troop after troop passed; even when night hid them from view I could still hear them going by — literally in hundreds and their weird cries accentuated the remoteness of time and place. Resting against the furled mainsail, with pipe alight, it was easy to believe their dark forms were the reincarnation of the buccaneers who once sailed the Carolina seas, crying thru the dark for those far off days when they lived, fought and stole.

Skimmers are unique among our birds in the knife-shape of bill. The upper mandible is movable and shorter than the lower. They feed by "skimming" just over the water with the lower mandible thrust into the sea, scooping small fish and other marine life into the throat. Awing they are almost as graceful as Terns but on shore extremely awkward. They nest in colonies often on sand bars so low that eggs and young are often destroyed by high water. An intruder on the nesting grounds is met by a wild attack of protesting birds. They dart and drive about his head snapping their red dagger-bills fearsomely but never coming too close. All the excitement and yelling is only bluff. The eggs are white and usually four, handsomely marked with browns and lavender and the female attends to most of the domestic duties. Bills of young are normal and they pick up food in the shallows soon after hatching. Hard parts of food are regurgitated in the shape of white balls (quite in the Owl manner!).

BREEDING

RANGE

Eastern coast of the United States from Virginia southward. Stragglers as far north as Bay of Fundy.

black-skimmer
gullbill-tern
Gullbill Tern
63
caspian-tern
Caspian Tern
64
royal-tern
Royal Tern
65
elegant-tern
Elegant Tern
66
cabot-tern
Cabot Tern
67
forster-tern
Forster Tern
69
common-tern
Common Tern
70
arctic-tern
Arctic Tern
71
roseate-tern
Roseate Tern
72
aleutian-tern
Aleutian Tern
73
least-tern
Least Tern
74
sooty-tern
Sooty Tern
75
black-tern
Black Tern
77
noddy
Noddy
79
black-skimmer
Black Skimmer
80
blackfoot-albatross
Blackfoot Albatross
81
shorttail-albatross
Shorttail Albatross
82
laysan-albatross
Laysan Albatross
82.1
fulmar-pacific-fulmar
Fulmar, Pacific Fulmar
86-86b
rodgers-fulmar
Rodgers Fulmar
86.1
slenderbill-fulmar
Slenderbill Fulmar
87
cory-shearwater
Cory Shearwater
88
greater-shearwater
Greater Shearwater
89
pinkfoot-shearwater
Pinkfoot Shearwater
91
audubon-shearwater
Audubon Shearwater
92
blackvent-shearwater
Blackvent Shearwater
93
townsend-shearwater
Townsend Shearwater
93.1
atlantic-shearwater
Atlantic Shearwater
94
sooty-shearwater
Sooty Shearwater
95
slenderbill-shearwater
Slenderbill Shearwater
96
wedgetail-shearwater
Wedgetail Shearwater
96.1
least-petrel
Least Petrel
103
stormy-petrel
Stormy Petrel
104
forktail-petrel
Forktail Petrel
105
kaeding-petrel
Kaeding Petrel
105.1
leach-petrel
Leach Petrel
106
guadalupe-petrel
Guadalupe Petrel
106.1
black-petrel
Black Petrel
107
ashy-petrel
Ashy Petrel
108
socorro-petrel
Socorro Petrel
108.1
wilson-petrel
Wilson Petrel
109
yellowbill-tropic-bird
Yellowbill Tropic Bird
112
redbill-tropic-bird
Redbill Tropic Bird
113
blueface-booby
Blueface Booby
114
bluefoot-booby
Bluefoot Booby
114.1
booby
Booby
115
brewster-booby
Brewster Booby
115.1
redfoot-booby
Redfoot Booby
116
gannet
Gannet
117
water-turkey
Water Turkey
118
cormorant
Cormorant
119
doublecrest-cormorant-florida-cormorant
Doublecrest Cormorant, Florida Cormorant
120-120a
whitecrest-cormorant-farallon-cormorant
Whitecrest Cormorant, Farallon Cormorant
120b-120c
mexican-cormorant
Mexican Cormorant
121
brandt-cormorant
Brandt Cormorant
122
pelagic-cormorant-violetgreen-cormorant-baird-cormorant
Pelagic Cormorant, Violetgreen Cormorant, Baird Cormorant
123-123a-123b
redface-cormorant
Redface Cormorant
124
white-pelican
White Pelican
125
brown-pelican
Brown Pelican
126
man-o-war-bird
Man-o’-war-bird
128

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