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Genus Rynchops
Indian Skimmer - The Indian Skimmer is a one of the three species that belong to the skimmer family. They are somewhat tern like but like other skimmers, have a short upper mandible and the longer lower mandible that is ploughed along the surface of water as the bird flies over the water to pick aquatic prey. It is found in southern Asia where it is patchily-distributed and declining in numbers. They are mainly found in rivers or estuaries. They are very brightly marked in black, white and orange making them difficult to miss.
African Skimmer - They have very long wings. The back, hindneck, and crown are black. The forehead and rest of the body is white, with a bright, long, orange beak that ends with a yellow tip. Their short forked tail is white, and their legs are bright red. The average size is about 15 inches long. Their voice is a sharp "kip-kip". Their bill structure is unique. The lower mandible is much longer than the upper mandible, and flattened sideways like scissor blades.
Black Skimmer - The Black Skimmer breeds in loose groups on sandbanks and sandy beaches in the Americas, the three to seven heavily dark-blotched buff or bluish eggs being incubated by both the male and female. The chicks leave the nest as soon as they hatch and lie inconspicuously in the nest depression or "scrape" where they are shaded from high temperatures by the parents. They may dig their own depressions in the sand at times. Parents feed the young almost exclusively during the day with almost no feeding occurring at night, due to the entire population of adults sometimes departing the colony to forage. Although the mandibles are of equal length at hatching, they rapidly become unequal during fledging.