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The '''skimmers''', forming the [[genus]] '''''Rynchops''''', are [[tern]]-like birds in the [[family (Biology)|family]] [[Laridae]]. The genus comprises three species found in [[South Asia]], [[Africa]], and the [[Americas]]. They were formerly known as the '''scissorbills'''.<ref>{{cite OED|scissorbill}}.</ref> | The '''skimmers''', forming the [[genus]] '''''Rynchops''''' (from [[Ancient Greek]] ῥύγχος (''rhúnkhos''), meaning "beak", and ὄψ (''óps''), meaning "face"), are [[tern]]-like birds in the [[family (Biology)|family]] [[Laridae]]. The genus comprises three species found in [[South Asia]], [[Africa]], and the [[Americas]]. They were formerly known as the '''scissorbills'''.<ref>{{cite OED|scissorbill}}.</ref> | ||
==Description== | ==Description== | ||
The three species are the only birds with distinctive uneven [[beak|bills]], where the [[lower mandible]] is conspicuously longer than the [[upper mandible|upper]].<ref name="HBW">{{cite book | last1=Hoyo | first1=Josep del | last2=Elliott | first2=Andrew | last3=Sargatal | first3=Jordi | title=Handbook of the Birds of the World: Hoatzin to auks |volume=3 | date=1992 | isbn=84-87334-20-2 | pages=668–677 }}</ref> This remarkable adaptation allows them to fish in a unique way, flying low and fast over lakes, streams, and lagoons.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Mariano-Jelicich | first1=Rocío | last2=Favero | first2=Marco | last3=Silva | first3=María | title=Fish Prey Of The Black Skimmer ''Rynchops niger'' At Mar Chiquita, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina | journal=Marine Ornithology | volume=31 | issue=2 | date=2003 | issn=1018-3337 | doi=10.5038/2074-1235.31.2.581 | url=http://www.marineornithology.org/PDF/31_2/31_2_199-202.pdf }}</ref> Their lower mandible skims or slices over the water's surface, ready to snap shut any small fish unable to dart clear. The skimmers are now included within the gull and tern family [[Laridae]], where they are positioned as a sister group of the [[tern]]s and [[Anous|noddies]].<ref name="Černý">{{Cite journal | last1=Černý | first1=David | last2=Natale | first2=Rossy | date=2022 | title=Comprehensive taxon sampling and vetted fossils help clarify the time tree of shorebirds (Aves, Charadriiformes) | journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume=177 | article-number=107620 | doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107620| pmid=36038056 | bibcode=2022MolPE.17707620C }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal| title= Multilocus perspectives on the monophyly and phylogeny of the order Charadriiformes (Aves)|author1=Fain MG |author2=Peter Houde |name-list-style=amp |journal = BMC Evolutionary Biology |year= 2007 |volume=7|issue=1 | page=35 |doi= 10.1186/1471-2148-7-35|pmid=17346347| pmc= 1838420 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2007BMCEE...7...35F }}</ref> Skimmers also have an additional adaptation in being the only genus of birds known to have vertical slit-shaped [[pupil]]s.<ref name="HBW"/><ref>{{cite journal | last1=Zusi | first1=Richard L. | last2=Bridge | first2=David | title=On the Slit Pupil of the Black Skimmer (Rynchops niger) | journal=Journal of Field Ornithology | publisher=[Association of Field Ornithologists, Wiley] | volume=52 | issue=4 | year=1981 | issn=0273-8570 | jstor=27639259 | pages=338–340 | url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/jfo/v052n04/p0338-p0340.pdf}}</ref> | The three species are the only birds with distinctive uneven [[beak|bills]], where the [[lower mandible]] is conspicuously longer than the [[upper mandible|upper]].<ref name="HBW">{{cite book | last1=Hoyo | first1=Josep del | last2=Elliott | first2=Andrew | last3=Sargatal | first3=Jordi | title=Handbook of the Birds of the World: Hoatzin to auks |volume=3 | date=1992 | isbn=84-87334-20-2 | pages=668–677 }}</ref> This remarkable adaptation allows them to fish in a unique way, flying low and fast over lakes, streams, and lagoons.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Mariano-Jelicich | first1=Rocío | last2=Favero | first2=Marco | last3=Silva | first3=María | title=Fish Prey Of The Black Skimmer ''Rynchops niger'' At Mar Chiquita, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina | journal=Marine Ornithology | volume=31 | issue=2 | date=2003 | issn=1018-3337 | doi=10.5038/2074-1235.31.2.581 | url=http://www.marineornithology.org/PDF/31_2/31_2_199-202.pdf }}</ref> Their lower mandible skims or slices over the water's surface, ready to snap shut any small fish unable to dart clear. The skimmers are now included within the gull and tern family [[Laridae]], where they are positioned as a sister group of the [[tern]]s and [[Anous|noddies]].<ref name="Černý">{{Cite journal | last1=Černý | first1=David | last2=Natale | first2=Rossy | date=2022 | title=Comprehensive taxon sampling and vetted fossils help clarify the time tree of shorebirds (Aves, Charadriiformes) | journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume=177 | article-number=107620 | doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107620| pmid=36038056 | bibcode=2022MolPE.17707620C }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal| title= Multilocus perspectives on the monophyly and phylogeny of the order Charadriiformes (Aves)|author1=Fain MG |author2=Peter Houde |name-list-style=amp |journal = BMC Evolutionary Biology |year= 2007 |volume=7|issue=1 | page=35 |doi= 10.1186/1471-2148-7-35|pmid=17346347| pmc= 1838420 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2007BMCEE...7...35F }}</ref> Skimmers also have an additional adaptation in being the only genus of birds known to have vertical slit-shaped [[pupil]]s.<ref name="HBW"/><ref>{{cite journal | last1=Zusi | first1=Richard L. | last2=Bridge | first2=David | title=On the Slit Pupil of the Black Skimmer (Rynchops niger) | journal=Journal of Field Ornithology | publisher=[Association of Field Ornithologists, Wiley] | volume=52 | issue=4 | year=1981 | issn=0273-8570 | jstor=27639259 | pages=338–340 | url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/jfo/v052n04/p0338-p0340.pdf}}</ref> The forehead, ends of the [[Flight feather#Secondaries|secondaries]], tail feathers and under parts are white, the rest of the plumage is black and the basal half of the bill is crimson.<ref>{{cite book| last=Reed | first=Chester A. | title=The Bird Book: Illustrating in natural colors more than seven hundred North American birds; also several hundred photographs of their nests and eggs. | via=Project Gutenberg | year=1914 | chapter-url=https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/30000/pg30000-images.html#Page_58 |page=58 |chapter=SKIMMERS. Family RYNCHOPIDÆ}}</ref> Their bills fall within their field of binocular vision, which enables them to carefully position their bill and capture prey.<ref>{{cite journal |year=2007 |title=Vision and the foraging technique of Skimmers (Rynchopidae)|journal=Ibis |volume=149|pages=750–757| last1=Martin | first1=Graham R. | last2=Mcneil | first2=Raymond | last3=Rojas | first3=Luz Marina |doi=10.1111/j.1474-919X.2007.00706.x |issue=4}}</ref> They are agile in flight and gather in large flocks along rivers and coastal sand banks.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Fusco |first=P.J. |url=http://www.ct.gov/dep/lib/dep/wildlife/pdf_files/outreach/connecticut_wildlife_magazine/cwmj06.pdf |magazine=Connecticut Wildlife |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090914073214/http://ct.gov/dep/lib/dep/wildlife/pdf_files/outreach/connecticut_wildlife_magazine/cwmj06.pdf |archive-date=2009-09-14 |publisher=Connecticut Department of Environment Protection Bureau of Natural Resources – Wildlife Division |date=May–June 2006 |access-date=2009-06-29 |page=10 |title=Spectacular and Intriguing - The Black Skimmer}}</ref> | ||
They are tropical and subtropical species which lay 3–6 eggs on sandy beaches. The female incubates the eggs. Because of the species' restricted nesting habitat the three species are vulnerable to disturbance at their nesting sites. One species, the [[Indian skimmer]], is considered [[Endangered species|endangered]] by the [[IUCN]] due to this as well as destruction and degradation of the lakes and rivers it uses for feeding.<ref>{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International. |year=2020 |title=''Rynchops albicollis'' |volume=2020 |article-number=e.T22694268A178970109 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T22694268A178970109.en |access-date=20 May 2025}}</ref> | They are tropical and subtropical species which lay 3–6 eggs on sandy beaches. The female incubates the eggs. Because of the species' restricted nesting habitat, the three species are vulnerable to disturbance at their nesting sites. One species, the [[Indian skimmer]], is considered [[Endangered species|endangered]] by the [[IUCN]] due to this as well as destruction and degradation of the lakes and rivers it uses for feeding.<ref>{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International. |year=2020 |title=''Rynchops albicollis'' |volume=2020 |article-number=e.T22694268A178970109 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T22694268A178970109.en |access-date=20 May 2025}}</ref> | ||
==Taxonomy== | ==Taxonomy== | ||
The [[genus]] ''Rynchops'' was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist [[Carl Linnaeus]] in the [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|tenth edition]] of his ''[[Systema Naturae]]''.<ref>{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=Carl | author-link=Carl Linnaeus | year=1758 | title= Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | volume=1 | edition=10th | page=138 | publisher=Laurentii Salvii | location=Holmiae (Stockholm) | language=Latin | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727043}}</ref>{{efn|Linnaeus also used the spelling ''Rhyncops''.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1=David | first1=N. | last2=Dickinson | first2=E. | last3=Gregory | first3=S. | date=2009 | title=Contributions to a list of first reviser actions: ornithology | journal=Zootaxa | volume=2085 | issue=1 | pages=1–24 | doi=10.11646/zootaxa.2085.1.1 | url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268076883}}</ref>}} The genus name ''Rynchops'' is from | The [[genus]] ''Rynchops'' was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist [[Carl Linnaeus]] in the [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|tenth edition]] of his ''[[Systema Naturae]]''.<ref>{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=Carl | author-link=Carl Linnaeus | year=1758 | title= Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | volume=1 | edition=10th | page=138 | publisher=Laurentii Salvii | location=Holmiae (Stockholm) | language=Latin | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727043}}</ref>{{efn|Linnaeus also used the spelling ''Rhyncops''.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1=David | first1=N. | last2=Dickinson | first2=E. | last3=Gregory | first3=S. | date=2009 | title=Contributions to a list of first reviser actions: ornithology | journal=Zootaxa | volume=2085 | issue=1 | pages=1–24 | doi=10.11646/zootaxa.2085.1.1 | url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268076883}}</ref>}} The genus name ''Rynchops'' is from [[Ancient Greek]] ῥύγχος (''rhúnkhos''), meaning "beak", and ὄψ (''óps''), meaning "face".<ref>{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | page=344}}</ref> The [[type species]] is the [[black skimmer]] (''Rynchops niger'').<ref>{{ cite book | editor-last=Peters | editor-first=James Lee | editor-link=James L. Peters | year=1934 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=2 | publisher=Harvard University Press | location=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=349 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14483162}}</ref> | ||
As in later editions of the works of [[Carl | As in later editions of the works of [[Carl Linnaeus]], the correct spelling should be ''Rhynchops'' and this is often adopted. However, the misspelling ''Rynchops'' was the one first published by Linnaeus and continues to be more commonly used.<ref>{{cite journal|title= Comment on the gender of names ending in ''-ops''| journal=Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature |volume= 24| issue=1|page=2 | year= 1967 |url=https://archive.org/stream/bulletinofzoolog24inte#page/2/mode/1up/|author=Amaral, A do}}</ref> Similarly, the gender of the Greek and Roman words is feminine and the genus was originally treated as such (''R. nigra'') but ''Rynchops'' is now usually treated as a masculine noun (''R. niger''). | ||
===Species=== | ===Species=== | ||
Latest revision as of 15:57, 15 December 2025
Template:Short description Template:Automatic taxobox
The skimmers, forming the genus Rynchops (from Ancient Greek ῥύγχος (rhúnkhos), meaning "beak", and ὄψ (óps), meaning "face"), are tern-like birds in the family Laridae. The genus comprises three species found in South Asia, Africa, and the Americas. They were formerly known as the scissorbills.[1]
Description
The three species are the only birds with distinctive uneven bills, where the lower mandible is conspicuously longer than the upper.[2] This remarkable adaptation allows them to fish in a unique way, flying low and fast over lakes, streams, and lagoons.[3] Their lower mandible skims or slices over the water's surface, ready to snap shut any small fish unable to dart clear. The skimmers are now included within the gull and tern family Laridae, where they are positioned as a sister group of the terns and noddies.[4][5] Skimmers also have an additional adaptation in being the only genus of birds known to have vertical slit-shaped pupils.[2][6] The forehead, ends of the secondaries, tail feathers and under parts are white, the rest of the plumage is black and the basal half of the bill is crimson.[7] Their bills fall within their field of binocular vision, which enables them to carefully position their bill and capture prey.[8] They are agile in flight and gather in large flocks along rivers and coastal sand banks.[9]
They are tropical and subtropical species which lay 3–6 eggs on sandy beaches. The female incubates the eggs. Because of the species' restricted nesting habitat, the three species are vulnerable to disturbance at their nesting sites. One species, the Indian skimmer, is considered endangered by the IUCN due to this as well as destruction and degradation of the lakes and rivers it uses for feeding.[10]
Taxonomy
The genus Rynchops was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae.[11]Template:Efn The genus name Rynchops is from Ancient Greek ῥύγχος (rhúnkhos), meaning "beak", and ὄψ (óps), meaning "face".[12] The type species is the black skimmer (Rynchops niger).[13]
As in later editions of the works of Carl Linnaeus, the correct spelling should be Rhynchops and this is often adopted. However, the misspelling Rynchops was the one first published by Linnaeus and continues to be more commonly used.[14] Similarly, the gender of the Greek and Roman words is feminine and the genus was originally treated as such (R. nigra) but Rynchops is now usually treated as a masculine noun (R. niger).
Species
The genus contains three species.[15] Template:Species table
Template:Species table/row Template:Species table/end
Notes
References
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External links
- Skimmer videos on the Internet Bird Collection
Template:Charadriiformes Template:Taxonbar Template:Authority control