Black Skimmer
If you don’t know what a skimmer is, you are missing out. Even the folks who do the must-do boat trips into the back marshes call that boat The Skimmer.
What do skimmers look like? That’s a tough one. They don’t look like anything. They are weird, and all wrong! The size of a medium gull, they have short, thick legs that are positioned disproportionately near the front of the body. Why? Probably so they can support the large body, and thick neck, that are necessary to hold its enormous snout of a bill. Skimmers skim the surface of the water; their lower mandible is much larger than the upper mandible. The bill is held wide open, as if it is at the dentist, waiting for a filling. They fly low to the water, the tip of that long, lower mandible skimming along the water’s surface creating a spray trail behind. It is amazing how steady they are, so the tip only just touches the water. Even more amazing is the bill that is feeling for fish which they grab at unfathomable speed then veer off and away, their mission complete.
Skimmers are long-bodied with long, pointed, swept-back wings, much like a tern. This is in direct contrast to the heavy body and bill; hence the overall, unusual shape and not looking like anything else. In fact, you can often see them lying completely horizontally on the beach; the bill is also laid down, so it doesn’t have to be supported. It is also a way for them to keep cool; you can often see them panting with the bill open.
Skimmers are mostly crepuscular or nocturnal. The water is typically calmer at night making it easier to fish, and they don’t need good visibility because the bill is tactile, so they fish mostly by touch. They have vertical pupils which help them see at night; they also protect their eyes from the harsh reflective light off the water and sand. This funky, dark pupil gives the skimmer a very soulful and sad look when you are up close.
In summer, a large colony of skimmers breeds at the tip of Stone Harbor Point. It is quite a long, but lovely, walk to the tip, with other breeding birds such as Piping Plover and Common Tern to see. The birds are all fenced off, not to be disturbed. Their flight is very bouncy, and they often give a loud yap or bark. Pairs usually mate for life. However, they keep it fresh with plenty of courtship every year. They fly around together through the colony doing a bouncy flight as if to boast about how good-looking their partner is. They often strut around in tandem, head and bill pointed up to the sky. The male stands guard while the female incubates the eggs. He will stand tall with tail cocked skywards and bill pointed down when a perceived threat comes nearby. He might also throw his head back, call, or stretch his wings out. It is never boring at a skimmer colony!
In fall, hundreds congregate on the beach between Convention Hall and 2nd Avenue Jetty in Cape May. They form tight packs, often with gulls and terns. Every now and then, they will take off and fly in perfect unison. How they, and other species, do this is always something I marvel at.
Sadly, skimmers numbers are declining, in large part due to competition with us for beautiful beaches. I think there is room to share if we are respectful of their space. There is so much to be entertained by them. The bill is a marvel, and the synchronized flocks with their two-tone black-and-white are certainly fit for any contest and stand out a mile. For me, a calm evening, when the water is like glass and the beautiful light is full of red, seeing skimmers making repeated passes with trails of sprayed water behind is simply hard to beat.
