Black Skimmer, Tongue-Tied and Twisted

Back to Oceanside hoping to get some shots of the Black Skimmer. I was thrilled to see two the other day but today was a outstanding day to observe the Black Skimmers because I found six of them on the sandbar of the San Luis Rey River mouth in Oceanside!

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As soon as I arrived at the river mouth, the air was filled with terns and to my surprise, at least four Black Skimmers were in the mix gliding and flying effortlessly with their beautiful long black wings trimmed with white on the tailing edge. Here is my first shot of the Black Skimmers as they take to the air when a Brown Pelican flies in too close to their bathing site. 

 

I spot five Black Skimmers that have landed on the sandbar. The male and female Black Skimmers look alike except the males are larger body, longer wings and larger bills. Black Skimmer, Rynchops niger measures 18 inches with a wingspan of 44 inches. They belong to the family of gulls and terns. The males can be as much as 20 inches long with a wingspan of 50 inches. 

Here is a shot of a male Black Skimmer standing on the other side of the female. The male is noticeably larger in size. Black Skimmers are the largest of the skimmers and the only ones in North America. They favor coastal waters, bays and inlets, sandbars and lagoons and that are protected from the ocean surf. Forming colonies of a few to thousands of pairs, they nest on isolated sandbars and islands in May and June.  At courtship time, the male presents a fish to the female and if she accepts she will hold it in her beak and allow for bonding. When the bonding is complete, the female will consume the fish. The nest is a saucer-shaped depression in the sand created by both the male and the female measuring about 10 inches wide and 1 inch deep. The female lays 3 to 7 eggs which are incubated by both parents. The eggs hatch in 21 to 23 days. The chicks are cared for by both parents and fed exclusively during the day. They are fed regurgitated food or fresh fish which may be placed on the ground for the chicks to pick up. The chicks are born with both bills the same length but by the time the chicks are 4 weeks old, the lower bill will already be approximately 1 cm. longer. They fledge in about 24-26 days after hatching.

A shot of the male skimmer with a leg band. This photo shows how far his wingtips go past his tail feathers as he folds his wings down. Also, a look at his very unusual bill. The lower bill (mandible) is much longer compared to his upper bill (Maxilla). They curve slightly downward. Skimmers are the only bird that has a longer lower bill. 

I spot another in flight. This one makes six skimmers that I have spotted today!

He turns and does an imitation of a submarine in front of a resting Pelican!

Must have caught something. He has slammed his upper beak down and appears to have grabbed a prey leaping out of the water to swallow. 

Flying low and coming towards his friends on shore. 

But changes his direction. He turns gracefully and appears to be hunting again. Look at that wingspan, 44 inches long and can turn on a dime!

Now you are seeing the classic hunting style of a skimmer searching for food. They hunt prey by feel on the surface of the water. His lower mandibles is submerged and cuts/slices knife-like through the water as he feels for his fish. They do not hunt by sight but by feel. 

 

Hunting with the lower bill submerged in water. 

 When they feel the fish, they snap down with the upper bill (Maxilla) to secure it.

The long wingspan gives the skimmer excellent control as they fly just a few inches above the water with their lower bill submerged slicing through the water. 

It is a little worrisome when there is hidden debris around. If the skimmer was to strike an object hidden underwater hard enough, it could injure him. But his conformation, flexible bill and ability to instinctively jerk his head downward may help most from getting seriously injured. They do chip and wear and tear the tips of the bottom bill in the shallows which may be beneficial in keeping the bill at a certain length for maximum use and angle for hunting prey in this skimming manner. 

He is in such shallow water that he can walk as he dips his bill in the water. They will also eat small crustaceans and crabs and may also scoop schools of tiny fish as they wade in the shallow water. A cute American Avocet chick walks along the beach. A Killdeer calls for her three chicks that are scattered around the sandbar. 

A blurry shot of the skimmer behind some bush but this demonstrates the quickness of the hunt. He is skimming feeling for fish.

A second later, he feels one and snaps his upper bill shut twisting his head downwards following the movement of his bill to grab the fish. 

Up again flying and deciding where to skim next. A beautiful look at the leading edge of this fabulous bird. 

I was not able to get a good look at his eyes but the Black Skimmer has pupils that dilate vertically, just like a cat's eyes. That is to keep his eyes protected form the glare of bright sunlight. He often hunts at night because his unique eyes, even though small compared to other birds, have the ability for the pupil to open very wide and fully so his night vision is very good. With the pupil open fully, he can see in dark surroundings as he flies and skims. He dose not need to see his prey, he just has to feel them with his lower bill. They are known to hunt fish throughout the night but when they are busy raising chicks in the summer, you will see them hunting during the day.

This photo shows the difference in the length of the upper bill compared to the lower bill. 

A perfect display and flight form of skimmer skimming. 

Got it!

Sinks his whole head in the water in pursuit of the prey. 

Up and away for the next meal. 

 

Shaking the water off. The photo of the American Coot in the background demonstrates how shallow this area is where this skimmer is hunting. 

He does a flyby over his resting friends and I get the gift of all six Black Skimmer in one frame. Also the adult American Avocet looks on protectively as her little chick forages at the shoreline. 

LOL... A little flight demo for the young Western Gull.

 A beautiful sight as the skimmer gets ready to slice his knife thin bill into the water.

 

A frontal look as he skims for prey. 

It's quite an awesome sight to see... the water dispersing around him as the skimmer grasps for prey. 

 

Got another one!

 

I am in heaven watching these beautiful birds. To see one coming at you with those beautiful long graceful wings will take your breath away!

Again, the skimmer is hunting, skimming on the surface feeling for prey. 

Slamming into the water in pursuit of his fish. 

His head tucks downward and almost goes under his chest as he grabs for the fish with his upper bill. 

 Off again. 

Skimming the water...

 

Down comes the upper bill... 

But wait... this time he gets some tangled seaweed or fishing line! LOL...tongue-tied mess. 

Thank goodness it is just a small tangle.  If it was something stationary and strong, it could be troublesome.

Curious to see how he gets rid of the messy item wrapped around his lower bill, I watch as he lowers his beak into the water. 

And one big move, lowering his bill and putting on the air breaks, he does a big water flush of his mouth getting rid of the twisted seaweed or fishing line from his beak.

Time to land.

He finds some tern friends to bathe with. They are known to keep company with terns.

The Black Skimmer skims close to the three terns as they bathe. 

The terns act as though they don't even see him. 

 

They may be thinking... "If we sit real still and look like we aren't enjoying ourselves, maybe he won't stop"... and the skimmer keeps going. 

Found the friend he wants to bathe with. 

 

I'm not sure if the tern is happy about his new companion.

LOL... I think the tern is wondering if this guy next to him is going to make too much of a splash with those super long wings. This has been a wonderful day to watch this fascinating bird that skims on water with the most unique bill. Not only did I get to observe the skimmer skimming, I got to see a total of six today at the sandbar! I can't wait to come back here again but now it's time for me to head home. 

Have a fantastic 4th of July weekend everyone!