By Mary Lundeberg – Black Skimmers are one of Florida’s more unique birds. Although related to terns, the skimmer doesn’t dive for fish. Instead, this amazing bird forages for fish in flight. It uses its brilliant orange-red bill to plow through the surf as it glides expertly over the water. Their long, broad wings beat mostly above the body, enabling graceful, buoyant flight inches above the surface.
The lower mandible of the skimmer’s bill is longer than the upper mandible. That’s the part of the bill that enables the bird to snag unsuspecting fish more efficiently. The bills of the male are slightly larger and deeper than the female. When skimmers hatch, the two mandibles are equal in length, but the lower mandible ends up a bit longer by the time the chicks fledge.
Because it feeds by touch, the skimmer doesn’t need daylight to forage like most birds. Skimmers fish primarily at dawn and dusk, and sometimes at night, when the water is calmer, and the fish are closer to the surface. Skimmers capture small fish up to five inches in length.
Skimmers are the only bird species to have slit-shaped pupils, similar to cats. This vertical slit enables them to see in low light and cuts the daytime glare reflecting off the water and white sand.
Males and females share parenting duties. Their nest is a scrape in the sand, about one inch deep and ten inches in diameter. Males do more scraping than females, kicking sand behind them with their orange feet. The average nest contains four spotted buff eggs which blend into the sand. Both parents incubate the eggs for 21-25 days. The downy chicks are vulnerable to heat and predators, so parents take turns shading and guarding them. Within a couple of days, the chicks are running around, and fledge at three to four weeks. Both parents continue feeding the chicks for several weeks after hatching, while the chicks practice skimming along the shoreline.
Skimmers breed in colonies that can contain hundreds of birds. They prefer sandy beaches and nest along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Locally, you can often see black skimmers at the end of Stump Pass Beach State Park and thank you for observing them from a distance.
Coastal development has reduced the territory available for nesting. Black skimmers are also vulnerable to storms, beachgoers walking through their habitat, unleashed dogs, and hungry gulls. You can help skimmers survive while enjoying their acrobatic flight and barking songs by keeping kites, dogs, and fireworks far away from their summertime nesting colonies.
Mary is the inaugural recipient of our Wildlife Champion Award. See more of her photos at MaryLundeberg.com.
