Black Skimmer

1/1600s at f8.0 ISO:800, Canon EOS-1D Mark IV, EF400mm f/4 DO IS USM +1.4x


The Black Skimmer breeds in loose groups on sandbanks and sandy beaches in the Americas. The three to seven heavily dark-blotched buff or bluish eggs are being incubated by both the male and female. The chicks leave the nest as soon as they hatch and lie inconspicuously in the nest depression or \"scrape\" where they are shaded from high temperatures by the parents. They may dig their own depressions in the sand at times. Parents feed the young almost exclusively during the day with almost no feeding occurring at night. Although the mandibles (lower jawbone) are of equal length at hatching, they rapidly become unequal during fledging.
Rockport, Texas
 
04/05/2012