Rynchops niger Skull Replica or Black Skimmer measures 4.7 inches. Black Skimmer Skull Replica is museum quality polyurethane resin cast. 2-part skull (separate cranium and jaw).
The Rynchops niger or Black skimmer is a tern-like seabird, one of three similar bird species in the skimmer genus Rynchops in the gull family Laridae.
Northern populations winter in the warmer waters of the Caribbean and the tropical and subtropical Pacific coasts, but South American populations make only shorter movements in response to annual floods which extend their feeding areas in the river shallows.
The black skimmer is the largest of the three skimmer species. It measures 16–20 in. long with a 42–50 in. wingspan.
This species ranges from 7.5 to 15.8 oz., with males averaging about 12.3 oz., as compared to the smaller females at 9.0 oz.
The Rynchops niger or Black skimmer basal half of the bill is red, the rest mainly black, and the lower mandible is 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.
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 color varies from white to dusky grey depending on region.
Non-breeding Rynchops niger or Black skimmer 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.
Rynchops niger or Black skimmer breeds in North and South America. Initial egg laying for Black skimmers usually occurs between mid-May and early June, however late arrivals or re-nesting skimmers may be outside of that window.
Eggs are usually laid on successive or every other day intervals and a typical nest contains three to four eggs with two and five egg nests being rare.
At hatching, the upper and lower bill of a young Black Skimmer are equal in length, but by fledging at 4 weeks, the lower mandible is already nearly a half-inch longer than the upper.
Rynchops niger or Black skimmers spend much time loafing gregariously on sandbars in the rivers, coasts and lagoons.
