Black Skimmers
For your trivia for today, a group of skimmers is collectively known as a “conspiracy."
Development and increased beach traffic pose a major threat to many of their traditional nesting grounds. They are quite skittish and even a slight disturbance in the colony can drastically reduce the rate of nesting success.
They are one of two birds whose lower bill is longer than their upper bill, easily seen here.
At hatching, the two mandibles are equal length so the youngsters can use them like a pair of forceps when picking food from the sand that has been regurgitated by a parent. It wouldn’t work if there was a significant difference in bill length at this early age.
However, by the time the chicks fledge at about 4 weeks of age, the lower mandible is already nearly 1 cm longer than the upper.
Preening
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