Black Skimmer Chicks
Black Skimmer chicks are hatching! This past weekend I visited the colony on St. Pete Beach Saturday and Sunday mornings. Each morning I was joined by three to five other photographers, one or two Audubon bird stewards, plus other curious beach visitors taking cell phone photos. Each day I arrived shortly after sunrise and finished around 9:30am when the morning light was starting to throw harsh shadows. I kept a respectful distance from the birds to minimize disturbance in accordance with the Audubon Guide to Ethical Bird Photography and Videography. On Saturday I used a 800mm super telephoto lens. Sunday I added a 1.4x teleconverter for even more reach.
When I first approached the colony on Saturday I actually didn’t see any chicks. What I did notice were many broken egg shells strewn about the colony. After a skimmer hatches, one of the parents cleans up by removing the hatched shell from the nest. The hatchlings remain under the adult most of the time, only becoming visible when feeding or the adults trade nesting duties. It didn’t take long to spot the cute little chicks peering from under their incubating parents.
Black Skimmer chick and eggs in their nest on the beach. This chick was likely born within 24 hours of this photo being taken. The eggs are cream-colored with brown and gray spots to blend in with the sand. Nikon Z9 with tripod-mounted Nikkor Z 800mm pf f/6.3 lens at f/16, 1/2000 sec, ISO 1600.
Black Skimmers. Parents remove the eggshells within 30 minutes of hatching to clean up the nest and minimize the attraction of predators. Nikon Z9 with tripod-mounted Nikkor Z 800mm pf f/6.3 lens with 1.4x teleconverter at f/11, 1/2000 sec, ISO 1000.
Like many birds that nest on the beach, Black Skimmers nest in simple scrapes in the sand. They create the nesting scrapes by laying on the sand and kicking their feet. They also wallow in the depression (rocking side to side and turning) to finish the nest. Males do more scraping and make larger scrapes than females. The females lay their eggs in their preferred nesting scrape about a week later, usually mid-May in Florida. She’ll lay 3 to 4 eggs. The first egg will hatch 21 to 23 days later and the other eggs will hatch over the next 4 to 6 days. Males and females take turns incubating the eggs, with females incubating a majority of the time. The non-incubating adult will spend their time collecting food or standing near the nest to provide protection from predators (1).
Once the first chick hatches, the non-incubating adult begins feeding duty immediately. The adult will go out and catch a small fish. Returning to the nest, the adult presents the fish to the chick. The chick leaves the nest and takes it from the adult. No regurgitation here, thank goodness.
Black Skimmer adult presenting a fish to its chick. This chick still has eggshell in its down and yet it can already eat fish that are nearly their same size. Nikon Z9 with tripod-mounted Nikkor Z 800mm pf f/6.3 lens at f/6.3, 1/2500 sec, ISO 500.
Black Skimmer softening up a fish so the young chick could eat it. Sometimes the little hatchling could not eat the fish. When that happened the adult would take the fish and soften it up by repeatedly chomping down on it in its bill, then give it back to the chick. Nearly every chick I observed eating a fish had parental help in this way to get these first meals down the hatch. Nikon Z9 with tripod-mounted Nikkor Z 800mm pf f/6.3 lens at f/6.3, 1/2500 sec, ISO 1000.
Black Skimmer parents presenting a fish to their hatchling. I was truly surprised by the apparent affection the adults had for their young offspring. The adults were very tender and patient presenting fish to their chicks, and sometimes the adults would just lay there looking at them. Nikon Z9 with tripod-mounted Nikkor Z 800mm pf f/6.3 lens at f/6.3, 1/2000 sec, ISO 320.
Black Skimmer with a small needlefish. One day, not too far from now, this little chick will be as big as its parents. Nikon Z9 with tripod-mounted Nikkor Z 800mm pf f/6.3 lens with 1.4x teleconverter at f/11, 1/2000 sec, ISO 1000.
When not feeding, the chicks would spend their time tucked under their parents. By 9am the full Florida sun was beating down on the beach and the temps were already in the mid-90’s. I noticed more chicks were spending time under their parents wing or even at their sides, probably to cool off.
Black Skimmer adult with chick at its side. Nikon Z9 with tripod-mounted Nikkor Z 800mm pf f/6.3 lens at f/9, 1/2500 sec, ISO 1250.
Black Skimmer with hatchling underwing. Note the egg tooth, the white projection on the tip of the chick’s upper bill which helps the chick break through the egg. They’ll lose this on or about the 4th day after hatching. Nikon Z9 with tripod-mounted Nikkor Z 800mm pf f/6.3 lens at f/11, 1/2000 sec, ISO 800.
Black Skimmer hatchling standing near its nest. Note the younger sibling and unhatched egg still in the nest. Both parents were nearby. Nikon Z9 with tripod-mounted Nikkor Z 800mm pf f/6.3 lens with 1.4x teleconverter at f/11, 1/1600 sec, ISO 320.
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Source:
Gochfeld, M., J. Burger, and K. L. Lefevre (2020). Black Skimmer (Rynchops niger), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.blkski.01
