? Black Skimmer
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Charadriiformes Family: Rhynchopidae Genus: Rhynchops Species: Rynchops niger
Binomial name
Rynchops niger Linnaeus, 1758

The Black Skimmer Rynchops niger is a tern-like seabird, one of three very similar bird species in the skimmer family. 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. black skimmer public domain USFWS File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms. ... Phyla Porifera (sponges) Ctenophora (comb jellies) Cnidaria Placozoa Subregnum Bilateria  Acoelomorpha  Orthonectida  Rhombozoa  Myxozoa  Superphylum Deuterostomia     Chordata (vertebrates, etc. ... Typical Classes Subphylum Urochordata - Tunicates Ascideiacea Thaliacea Larvacea Subphylum Cephalochordata - Lancelets Subphylum Myxini - Hagfishes Subphylum Vertebrata - Vertebrates Petromyzontida - Lampreys Placodermi (extinct) Chondrichthyes - Cartilaginous fishes Acanthodii (extinct) Actinopterygii - Ray-finned fishes Actinistia - Coelacanths Dipnoi - Lungfishes Amphibia - Amphibians Reptilia - Reptiles Aves - Birds Mammalia - Mammals Chordates (phylum Chordata) include the vertebrates, together with... For other meanings of bird, see bird (disambiguation). ... Families Thinocoridae Pedionomidae Scolopacidae Rostratulidae Jacanidae Chionididae Burhinidae Haematopodidae Recurvirostridae Ibidorhynchidae Charadriidae Pluvianellidae Dromadidae Glareolidae Stercorariidae Rhynchopidae Laridae Sternidae Alcidae Charadriiformes is a diverse order of small to medium-large birds. ... Species Black Skimmer (Rhynchops niger) African Skimmer (Rhynchops flavirostris) Indian Skimmer (Rhynchops albicollis) The Skimmers are a small family of tern-like birds in the order Charadriiformes, which also includes the waders, gulls and auks. ... Species Black Skimmer (Rhynchops niger) African Skimmer (Rhynchops flavirostris) Indian Skimmer (Rhynchops albicollis) The Skimmers are a small family of tern-like birds in the order Charadriiformes, which also includes the waders, gulls and auks. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is a standard convention used for naming species. ... Carolus Linnaeus ~Carl Linnaeus~, also known after his ennoblement as Carl von Linné (   listen?), and in English usually under the Latinized name Carolus Linnaeus (May 23, 1707 – January 10, 1778), was a Swedish botanist who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of taxonomy. ... Genera Sterna (Gelochelidon) (Hydroprogne) (Thalasseus) Chlidonias Phaetusa Anous Procelsterna Gygis Larosterna Terns are seabirds in the family Sternidae, previously considered a subfamily Sterninae of the gull family Laridae. ... Seabirds are birds that spend much of their lives, outside the breeding season at least, at sea. ... Orders Many - see section below. ... Species Black Skimmer (Rhynchops niger) African Skimmer (Rhynchops flavirostris) Indian Skimmer (Rhynchops albicollis) The Skimmers are a small family of tern-like birds in the order Charadriiformes, which also includes the waders, gulls and auks. ... World map showing location of North America A satellite composite image of North America North America is a continent in the northern hemisphere, bounded on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west... South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ... // Long-distance land bird migration Many species of land birds migrate very long distances, the most common pattern being for birds to breed in the temperate or arctic northern hemisphere and winter in warmer regions, often in the tropics or the southern hemisphere. ... ... For other meanings of Pacific, see Pacific (disambiguation). ...

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 being incubated entirely by the female. The chicks leave the nest as soon as they hatch and lie inconspicuosly in depressions they dig in the sand. Although the mandibles are of equal length at hatching, they rapidly become unequal during fledging.

The Black Skimmer is 40-50 cm long with a 107-127 cm wingspan. The males weigh about 325 g, as compared to the smaller female’s 235 g. The inner part of the bill is red, the rest mainly black, and the lower mandible is much-elongated and flexible. The eye has a dark brown iris and catlike vertical pupil, unique for a bird. The legs are red. The call is a barking kak-kak-kak. Trinomial name Felis silvestris catus (Linnaeus, 1758) This article is about the domestic cat. ...

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 colour varies from white to dusky grey depending on region.

Non-breeding adults have paler and browner upperparts, and a white nape collar. Immature birds have brown upperparts with white feather tips and fringes. The underparts and forehead are white, and the underwings as the adult.

Black Skimmer has three subspecies.

• Migratory R. n. niger breeds on the Atlantic coast of North America, and from southern California to Ecuador in the Pacific.
• R. n. cinerescens is larger, has dusky underwings, and only a narrow white fringe to its black tail, and breeds in northern and northeastern South America and the Amazon basin.
• R. n. intercedens occurs on the rest of the Atlantic coast of South America south to central Argentina.

Skimmers have a light graceful flight, with steady beats of their long wings. They feed in often large flocks, flying low over the water surface with the lower mandible skimming the water for small fish or crustaceans, caught by touch by day or especially at night. They spend much time loafing gregariously on sandbars in the rivers, coasts and lagoons they frequent. The Atlantic Ocean is Earths second-largest ocean, covering approximately one_fifth of its surface. ... State nickname: The Golden State Other U.S. States Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) Official languages English Area 410,000 km² (3rd)  - Land 404,298 km²  - Water 20,047 km² (4. ... The name Amazon may refer to several concepts: The legendary Amazons, women renowned in antiquity for their prowess in battle. ... Classes Class Branchiopoda Subclass Phyllopoda Subclass Sarsostraca Class Remipedia Order Enantiopoda Order Nectiopoda Class Cephalocarida Order Brachypoda Class Maxillopoda Subclass Mystacocarida Subclass Copepoda Subclass Branchiura Subclass Pentastomida Subclass Tantulocarida Subclass Thecostraca Infraclass Cirripedia Class Ostracoda Order Metacopina Subclass Myodocopa Subclass Podocopa Class Malacostraca Subclass Eumalacostraca Subclass Hoplocarida Subclass Phyllocarida The...

References

• Birds of Venezuela by Hilty, ISBN 0-7136-6418-5
• Birds of Trinidad and Tobago by ffrench, ISBN 0-7136-6759-1
• A guide to the birds of Costa Rica by Stiles and Skutch ISBN 0-0814-9600-4
• Seabirds by Harrison, ISBN 0-7470-8028-8