Friday, June 10, 2011

The secret lives of black skimmers

Sharing a fish. This pair actually pulled the fish in half and each had a piece. 

Before she's even done eating.

A black skimmer hunts by feel, closing their bill when they run into a fish.

These are from a nesting colony of black skimmers. Like many seabirds, they exchange fish before mating. The male in this pair was working an assembly line: he swooped in with another fish every five minutes.