Rynchops

Skimmers or Rynchops, also called scissorbills, are sea birds in the genus Rynchops. They have a lower jaw that is longer than their upper jaw. Skimmers use their lower jaw to catch fish. They catch fish by flying low and fast over the water, with their lower jaw cutting through the water. When it collides (hits) with a fish, the beak of the bird closes. This way of catching food is also called "surface skimming".

Skimmers are usually black with a white underside, their beak is bright orange or red.

Skimmers are also the only bird genus with vertical slit pupils, like a cat, so that they aren't blinded by the shining water.

Species

There are 3 species of Skimmers:

The Black skimmer (Rynchops niger) that lives in North and South America, the African skimmer (Rynchops flavirostris) that lives in Africa and the Indian Skimmer (Rynchops albicollis) that lives on the Indian subcontinent.

References

1. 1 2 Hoyo, Josep del; Elliott, Andrew; Sargatal, Jordi; Cabot, José, eds. (1992). Handbook of the birds of the world. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-84-87334-10-8.
2. ↑ "SORA: Searchable Ornithological Research Archive | University of South Florida Research | Digital Commons @ University of South Florida". digitalcommons.usf.edu. Retrieved 2026-02-04.
3. ↑ "IOC World Bird List 4.3". IOC World Bird List Datasets. Retrieved 2026-02-04.

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