Black Skimmer
Rynchops niger
- Class
- Bird
- Rarity
- Common
- Observations
- 17,286
- Most observed in
- 🇺🇸 United States
- Conservation
- Least Concern
Description
The black skimmer is a tern-like seabird, one of three similar bird species in the skimmer genus Rynchops in the gull family Laridae. It breeds in North and South America. Northern populations winter in the warmer waters of the Caribbean and the tropical and subtropical Pacific and Atlantic coasts, but South American populations make only shorter movements in response to annual floods which extend their feeding areas in the river shallows.
Summary adapted from the Wikipedia article “Black skimmer”.