The Story
I photographed this Black Skimmer (Rynchops niger) from the Ferry Marcopolo on the Orteguaza River at Puerto Arango, near Florencia, Caquetá, Colombia, in February 2021. Its eye has a vertical, catlike pupil, unique among birds. Its genus name, Rynchops, comes from Greek words for bill and to cut off, and niger is Latin for black. It spends a lot of time resting in groups on sandbars, and it breeds in loose colonies on sandbanks and beaches, where both parents incubate three to seven eggs. Its call is a barking kak-kak-kak. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I made this frame with a Canon R5 and the RF 800mm f/11, at 1/350 sec, f/11, ISO 12800. Florencia, the capital of Caquetá, is known as the golden gateway to the Colombian Amazon and was founded on December 25, 1902.
©2021 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Black Skimmer (Rynchops niger) belongs to the family Laridae (Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2025). Source: IUCN Red List