The African skimmer (''Rynchops flavirostris'') is a species of bird belonging to the

skimmer Skimmer may refer to: Animals *Skimmer (bird), a common name for birds in the genus ''Rynchops'' *Skimmer (dragonfly), a common name for dragonflies in the family Libellulidae *Water strider or skimmer, a common name for insects in the family Ge ...

genus ''Rynchops'' in the family Laridae. It is found along rivers, lakes and lagoons in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Description

African skimmers have long wings, with a black back, hindneck, and crown. The forehead and rest of the body is white, with a bright, long, orange beak that ends with a yellow tip (black tip when immature), hence the specific name ''flavirostris'', "yellow-beak." Their short forked tail is white, and their legs are bright red. The average size is about long. Their voice is a sharp "kip-kip". Their bill structure is unique; the lower mandible is much longer than the upper mandible, and is flattened sideways like scissor blades.

Distribution and habitat

The African skimmer is found from

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣� ...

to northern

Congo River The Congo River ( kg, Nzâdi Kôngo, french: Fleuve Congo, pt, Rio Congo), formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the second largest river in the world by discharge ...

and southern

Nile Valley The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest ri ...

, southern

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

to the

Zambezi Valley The Zambezi River (also spelled Zambeze and Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage basin covers , slightly less than hal ...

, and then to KwaZulu-Natal Province (South Africa) and

Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

. They live at large tropical rivers with sandbanks for nesting and roosting, lake shores, and coastal lagoons. The African skimmer is generally uncommon and the total populations is estimated at 15,000–25,000 individuals.

Behavior

African Skimmer (Rynchops flavirostris) (24310826466)

African skimmers fly in lines over calm waters, and dip their lower

mandible In anatomy, the mandible, lower jaw or jawbone is the largest, strongest and lowest bone in the human facial skeleton. It forms the lower jaw and holds the lower teeth in place. The mandible sits beneath the maxilla. It is the only movable bon ...

s in the water to feed. When the mandible touches a fish, the skimmer snaps its mouth shut. They feed mostly at dawn and dusk and have good night vision. The following fish have been recorded as prey for African skimmers: ''

Micralestes ''Micralestes'' is a genus of African tetras. There are currently 17 species in this genus. Species * ''Micralestes acutidens'' ( W. K. H. Peters, 1852) (Sharptooth tetra) * '' Micralestes ambiguus'' Géry, 1995 * ''Micralestes argyrotaenia ...

'', ''

Tilapia Tilapia ( ) is the common name for nearly a hundred species of cichlid fish from the coelotilapine, coptodonine, heterotilapine, oreochromine, pelmatolapiine, and tilapiine tribes (formerly all were "Tilapiini"), with the economically most i ...

'', ''

Barbus ''Barbus'' is a genus of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae. The type species of ''Barbus'' is the common barbel, first described as ''Cyprinus barbus'' and now named ''Barbus barbus''. ''Barbus'' is the namesake genus of the subfamily B ...

'', ''

Marcusenius ''Marcusenius'' is a genus of the elephantfish group native to Africa. Its members are highly diverse in size, with the smallest species reaching less than and the largest more than . The genus is named after Johann Marcusen. Species Ther ...

'', ''

Hepsetus ''Hepsetus'' is a genus of African fishes, the African pikes or African pike characins, in the order Characiformes. It is the sole genus in the family Hepsetidae. It was long believed that only a single widespread species existed, ''H. odoe'', b ...

'', ''

Aplocheilichthys The banded lampeye (''Aplocheilichthys spilauchen'') is a species of poeciliid that is native to Africa, ranging from Senegal to Angola. It is mainly found in coastal brackish habitats (only infrequently in pure fresh or salt water) such as river ...

'' and ''

Petrocephalus ''Petrocephalus'' is a genus of ray-finned fish in the family Mormyridae. All the fish species of this genus are endemic to Africa. Species There are currently 46 recognized species in this genus: * ''Petrocephalus ansorgii'' Boulenger 1903 (Ag ...

''.

Reproduction

African skimmers nest in loose colonies on large sandbanks. The colonies typically consist of less than 50 pairs and each pair lays 2–3 (rarely 4) eggs in a scrape in the sand. Sometimes African skimmer colonies are mixed with those of other sand bank nesting birds such as

collared pratincole The collared pratincole (''Glareola pratincola''), also known as the common pratincole or red-winged pratincole, is a wader in the pratincole family, Glareolidae. As with other pratincoles, it is native to the Old World. Taxonomy The collared p ...

pied avocet The pied avocet (''Recurvirostra avosetta'') is a large black and white wader in the avocet and stilt family, Recurvirostridae. They breed in temperate Europe and across the Palearctic to Central Asia then on to the Russian Far East. It is a m ...

and

white-fronted plover The white-fronted plover or white-fronted sandplover (''Charadrius marginatus'') is a small (45-50 g) shorebird of the family Charadriidae that inhabits sandy beaches, dunes, mudflats and the shores of rivers and lakes in sub-saharan Africa and ...

Movements

African skimmers are partial intra-African migrants, they arrive in southern Africa when the water level of rivers starts falling at the beginning of the dry season, i.e. April–June, returning northwards after breeding when rivers start rising again at the start of the rainy season in November–January.

References

External links

* African skimmer
Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds
{{Taxonbar, from=Q18766

African skimmer The African skimmer (''Rynchops flavirostris'') is a species of bird belonging to the skimmer genus ''Rynchops'' in the family Laridae. It is found along rivers, lakes and lagoons in Sub-Saharan Africa. Description African skimmers have long w ...