Who You Lookin At

by Dawn Currie

Title

Who You Lookin At

Artist

Dawn Currie

Medium

Photograph - Digital

Description

Photographic artwork by Dawn Currie. Two Black Skimmers checking out the photographer. Photographed in Sebastian Inlet State Park.

Featured on Fine Art America/Pixels:
- A Birding Group - Wings
- ABC Group
- Beauty
- FAA Portraits - Birds
- For The Love Of Birds
- Images That Excite You
- Nature and Landscape Photography
- Shorebirds of Florida
- Wild Birds Of The World
- Wildlife
- 500 Views

Black Skimmer (Rynchops niger): The remarkable bill of the Black Skimmer sets it apart from all other American birds. The large red and black bill is knife-thin and the lower mandible is longer than the upper. The bird drags the lower bill through the water as it flies along, hoping to catch small fish.

The Black Skimmer is the only American representative of the skimmer family. The other two, rather similar, species are the African Skimmer and the Indian Skimmer. All use the same unusual feeding method.

Black Skimmers can be found on open sandy beaches, on gravel or shell bars with sparse vegetation, or on mats of tide-stranded debris in saltmarsh. Much of this species' original beach habitat has been developed as houses and attractions for beachgoers. Particularly in the southeastern U.S., artificial islands made from dredge spoils are an important nesting habitat for this and other species.

The Black Skimmer has one of the most unusual foraging styles of any North American bird. A feeding skimmer flies low over the water with its bill open and its lower mandible slicing the surface. When the mandible touches a fish, the upper bill (maxilla) snaps down instantly to catch it. Skimmers are highly social birds, nesting in colonies and forming large flocks outside the breeding season.

I have seen these birds all along the coast of central and south Florida. My favorite spots to photograph them are Sebastian Inlet State Park and Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

Uploaded

January 20th, 2014

Statistics

Viewed 4,017 Times  -  Last Visitor from Fairfield, CT on 04/19/2024 at 10:24 AM

Colors

Embed

Share

Sales Sheet

Tags