Skimmers
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 three species have an elongated lower beak. They feed by flying low over the water surface with the lower beak skimming the water for small fish.
They are tropical species which lay 3-6 eggs on sandy beaches. The female incubates the eggs.
See Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy for an alternative classification. The genus name Rhynchops is sometimes spelled Rhyncops (also due to Linnaeus).
Copyright: Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia.org
Relevant Web Resources: Rynchopidae Skimmers ... Skimmer Photos
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