The black skimmer is named for its characteristic style of feeding. It glides just above the water line, skimming the surface with the lower part of its beak, or mandible. When the lower mandible senses a fish, the upper mandible snaps down for the catch. This image doesn’t show that behavior, but clearly displays the beak. Photographed on Merritt Island on the east coast of Florida. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 340mm) ISO 400, f/7.1 at 1/1600th of a second.
I have seen video of that action and it is AMAZING! Your image, Sean, really shows the design differences of the upper & lower mandibles on this bird.
Nice capture!
Great pic of this bird in fight. At first glance I thought it was a tern, as the colors are similar. I am so glad you pointed out the beak structure and function–as a birder, I’m always looking for factoids like this one!
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So purrrrdy!
I have seen video of that action and it is AMAZING! Your image, Sean, really shows the design differences of the upper & lower mandibles on this bird.
Nice capture!
great pic.of the swan diving.
Great pic of this bird in fight. At first glance I thought it was a tern, as the colors are similar. I am so glad you pointed out the beak structure and function–as a birder, I’m always looking for factoids like this one!
great pic. of this bird flying. )