From Opus

Revision as of 20:11, 18 August 2009

Photo by Nick Richter
Photographed in Irvine, California

Rynchops niger

Identification:

18" (46 cm)

• Black above
• White below
• Red legs
• Bill red with black tip like a blade. Lower mandible much longer, than the upper.

Immature mottled upper appearance, with shorter bill.

Distribution

Breeds along Atlantic and Gulf coasts from Massachusetts and Long Island to Florida and Texas. Winters north to southern California and Virginia. Also in American tropics.

Taxonomy

There are 3 subspecies

• R n niger
• R n cinerascens
• R n intercedens

Habitat

Breeds chiefly on sandbars and beaches; feeds in shallow bays, inlets, and estuaries.

Behaviour

They are mainly surface skimmers (hence the name) tip of the lower mandible cuts through the water. They will also wade in shallow water, jabbing at the fish.

Tight flocks can be seen simultaneously wheeling in one direction and then another.

Breeding

3 or 4 brown-blotched buff eggs on bare sand, usually among shell fragments and scattered grass clumps.

They are particularly attracted to the newly-dredged sand-fill areas, which may contain colonies of up to 200 pairs. These sites will be abandoned as soon as too much grass appears.

Vocalisation

Short barking notes.

Reference

eNature

External Links

• Arthur Grosset's Birds