Black Skimmers

Flying low over the Gulf of Mexico, these extraordinary birds skim the surface of the water, the tip of their lower mandible cutting through the water to scoop up fish. They look wonderful flying in compact formations, wheeling left and right, showing first their black backs and wings and then their white underbellies, in unison. They are being hustled off the little sandy beaches now, where they have wintered, to make room for summer visitors of a less feathered variety.