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The Black Skimmer (Rynchops niger) is a tern-like seabird, one of three very similar birds 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 coasts, but the South American races make only shorter movements in response to annual floods which extend their feeding areas in the river shallows.

The black skimmer was described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae and given the binomial name Rynchops niger. The genus name Rynchops is from the Ancient Greek rhunkhos "bill" and ops "face". The specific niger is the Latin word for "black". The black skimmer is one of three species in the genus Rynchops.

Adults in breeding plumage have a black crown, nape and upper body. The forehead and underparts are white. The upper wings are black with white on the rear edge, and the tail and rump are dark grey with white edges. The underwing color varies from white to dusky grey depending on region.
Non-breeding adults have paler and browner upper parts, and a white nape collar. Immature birds have brown upper parts with white feather tips and fringes. The underparts and forehead are white, and the underwings as the adult.

Skimmers have a light graceful flight, with steady beats of their long wings. They feed usually in large flocks, flying low over the water surface with the lower mandible skimming the water (in order of importance) for small fish, insects, crustaceans and molluscs caught by touch by day or especially at night.

These photos were taken in the Backbay, Newport Beach, CA.

Black Skimmer

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