Black Skimmer
Rynchops niger
Unusual tern-like bird with oversized bill—lower mandible is much longer than upper mandible. Feeds by flying close to surface of water and dipping its lower mandible into the water "skimming" for small fish. Found coastally, especially beaches and sandbars. Barking "yip" calls might clue you in to a flock in flight.
识别特征
The black skimmer is the largest of the three skimmer species. It measures 40–50 cm (16–20 in) long with a 107–127 cm (42–50 in) wingspan. This species ranges from 212 to 447 g (7.5 to 15.8 oz), with males averaging about 349 g (12.3 oz), as compared to the smaller females 254 g (9.0 oz). The basal half of the bill is red, the rest mainly black, and the lower mandible is much-elongated. 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.<p>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.<p>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.
分类信息
The black skimmer was described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1755 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae and given the binomial name Rynchops niger. The genus name Rynchops is from the Ancient Greek ῥυvχος/rhunkhos meaning "bill" and κοπτω/koptō meaning "to cut off". The specific niger is the Latin word for "black". The black skimmer is one of three species in the genus Rynchops.<p>There are three subspecies:
- 学名
- Rynchops niger
- 命名信息
- Linnaeus, 1758
- 目
- Charadriiformes
- 科
- Laridae
- 属
- Rynchops
分布与栖息地
- 迁徙
- Complete migrants
行为
Migration pattern: Complete migrants.
保护状况
Population trend: declining.
- 种群趋势
- declining
照片
分布
鸟叫声
其他鸟类
White-spotted Flufftail
Sarothrura pulchra
Small rail of forest understory. Shy and elusive bird that is unlikely to be seen by those not expressly looking for it. Both sexes show a red hood and tail. The rest of the body is black with white spots in the male, and brown with buff barring in the female. Found in the wet understory of thick forest and adjacent scrub and gardens. Call is a series of several hollow hoots, often given repeatedly. Most other flufftails are not found in forest. Separated from Buff-spotted Flufftail by the white spots of the male and the red hood of the female.
Eastern Spot-billed Duck
Anas zonorhyncha
Common large duck of lakes, ponds, wet fields, and estuaries. Dark brown overall, with a pale head marked by a whitish eyebrow and two black stripes on the face. Namesake yellow bill spot is visible even from a good distance. White underwings contrast strongly with dark body in flight. Highly adaptable and quite tame, foraging in city parks and small ponds close to human settlements.
Stock Dove
Columba oenas
Medium-size, overall gray pigeon with pinkish breast and an indistinct black bar on the closed wing. In flight, the pale gray wing panel contrasts sharply with the black wingtip and broad trailing edge. Underwing gray, also with a broad black trailing edge (underwing is usually white on wild Rock Pigeon and feral pigeons). Found in open woodland, farmland with hedges and scattered trees. Rather shy and mostly seen in flight. Feeds mainly on the ground, in pairs or small groups that associate readily with wood-pigeons. Gives a series of low, rather hoarse coos.
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