Editor’s Note: The black skimmer is part of the CROW CAW (Case A Week) series, which tells the stories of the patients at the Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife on Sanibel Island, the dangers they face, and how we can help protect all of our wildlife. It is sponsored by Kingfisher Real Estate. Read previous CROW cases here.
Recognize this oversized orange bill and graceful black silhouette? It is a black skimmer (patient 25-3918).
Black skimmers can be a challenging species to care for in a wildlife rehabilitation setting, as they can develop a wide range of secondary issues while in captivity.
For example, they have long, fragile primary flight feathers that can quickly become tattered and damaged. That may affect their flight ability and delay their release date.
Additionally, black skimmers are specialized piscivores that usually catch live prey themselves. They hunt by touch, not by sight, dipping their long lower bill into the water while they skim just over the surface.
Once they contact a fish, they snap their beak shut and eat the prey in flight. That can make feeding them in captivity a challenge, as they don’t recognize pre-caught fish as food right away.
Thankfully, this black skimmer only needed to be kept overnight. Though it was tangled in fishing tackle, the patient was not wounded and was in great physical condition. Not all animals entangled in fishing line are quite so lucky.
The black skimmer was healthy enough to be released the next morning at Lighthouse Beach on Sanibel. Every patient release directly benefits local populations of that species, especially when the species is threatened, such as black skimmers.
Black skimmers are in decline mainly due to the development of their coastal habitats. As ground nesters, they rely heavily on sandy beaches for their survival, and risk their eggs being disturbed by dogs, beachgoers, vehicles, and rising sea levels.
If you have the chance to see a black skimmer in the wild, observe from a distance and note that there may be a nest in the area. Their eggs are a pale cream color, with flecks that help them blend in with the surrounding sand. Chicks are covered in a tan down and will begin to develop their beautiful black plumage at around 1 month old.
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