Black Skimmer
Rynchops niger
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Cordats)
- ClassAves (Aus)
- OrderCharadriiformes (Caradriformes)
- FamilyLaridae (Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers)
- GenusRynchops (Skimmers)
- SpeciesRynchops niger (Black Skimmer)
The black skimmer (Rynchops niger) is a tern-like seabird, one of three similar bird species in the skimmer genus Rynchops in the gull family Laridae. It breeds in North and South America. Northern populations winter in the warmer waters of the Caribbean and the tropical and subtropical Pacific and Atlantic coasts, but South American populations make only shorter movements in response to annual floods which extend their feeding areas in the river shallows. Wikipedia →
Closest Relatives at Cumbres de Monterrey National Park
Royal Tern
Thalasseus maximus
Ring-billed Gull
Larus delawarensis
Laughing Gull
Leucophaeus atricilla
Elegant Tern
Thalasseus elegans
American Herring Gull
Larus smithsonianus
Black-legged Kittiwake
Rissa tridactyla
Bonaparte's Gull
Chroicocephalus philadelphia
Least Tern
Sternula antillarum
Black Tern
Chlidonias niger
Spotted Sandpiper
Actitis macularius
Killdeer
Charadrius vociferus
American Woodcock
Scolopax minor
📅 Monthly Probability
Fewer than 5 records of Black Skimmer at Cumbres de Monterrey National Park — not enough to chart months honestly.
☀️ When They're Spotted
Most active during daytime hours (6am–6pm) · across all parks (global)
Global Distribution
Where this species is recorded worldwide. Restricted to human observations from 2019 onwards — the same kind of record and the same period the probabilities on this page are built from, so collar-tracking studies, camera-trap arrays and museum specimens are excluded. Around Santa Rosa that removes 5,924 GPS fixes from a handful of tagged jaguars.
where this species is recorded (GBIF density — it tracks where observers go, not how likely a sighting is) · parks where it occurs — tap a pin for the sighting probability there