The black skimmer is the largest of the three subspecies reaching from 15-20 inches long, weighing up to 15 ounces, with a wingspan of 40-50 inches! The males will grow much larger than the females. Their unique beak is red at the base transitioning to black towards the tips with the lower mandible being elongated.

Adults in breeding plumage will have black coloring on their upper wings and body with white coloring underneath. Non-breeding or younger black skimmers display more brownish colors.

A unique characteristic for a bird is the black skimmer’s cat-like vertical pupil. They protect their eyes by causing their pupils to narrow during the day when the sun is brightly reflecting from the water and sand.

Black skimmers can be found in large colonies on the beaches, bays, lagoons, and estuaries of North and South America.

Black skimmers are active at dusk and dawn, usually hunting at night. Their diet primarily consists of small fish, insects, mollusks, and crustaceans. Black skimmers will fly along the water’s surface with its elongated lower mandible submerged. Using its sense of touch, the black skimmer will wait until it detects prey and then quickly shut its beak catching it.

There is no specific breeding season for black skimmers, but large colonies will often congregate on the sandy beaches of America that contain thousands of mating pairs. Black skimmers mate for life with both parents taking care of the eggs and chicks. Females will lay 2-7 eggs, which will hatch in a little less than a month. Chicks are browner in color and have equal-sized mandibles. They can leave the nest within a week of hatching but will still depend on the parents for food for at least a month.

The black skimmer is a seabird in the gull family. Their scientific name Rynchops niger can be translated to “bill”, “to cut off”, and “black.” There are two other subspecies of skimmers besides black skimmers, which are the African skimmer and Indian skimmer.

Black skimmers are efficient flyers, which is useful for their annual migration to the Caribbean and the subtropical coasts of the Pacific Ocean during winter.