African Skimmer (Rynchops flavirostris)

Angola (B), Benin (NB), Botswana (B) (NB), Burkina Faso (NB), Burundi (B) (NB), Cameroon (NB), Central African Republic (NB), Chad (B) (NB), Congo [The Democratic Republic of the] (NB), Congo [The Democratic Republic of the] (NB), C�te dIvoire (NB), Egypt (NB), Equatorial Guinea (NB), Ethiopia (B) (NB), Gabon (NB), Gambia (NB), Ghana (NB), Guinea (NB), Guinea-bissau, Kenya (B) (NB), Liberia (NB), Malawi (B), Mali (B) (NB), Mauritania (NB), Mozambique (NB), Namibia (B) (NB), Niger (B) (NB), Nigeria (B) (NB), Rwanda (NB), Senegal (B) (NB), Sierra Leone (B) (NB), Sudan (B) (NB), Tanzania [United Republic of] (NB), Uganda (B) (NB), Zambia (B), Zimbabwe (B) (NB).

Vagrant to Eritrea (NB), Israel, Somalia (NB), South Africa (E) (NB), Togo (NB), Yemen (NB).

Major rivers and lakes of Africa south of Sahara, from Senegal east to Sudan and south-western Ethiopia, and south to extreme northern Namibia (R Kunene), northern Botswana, basin of R Zambezi and southern Mozambique; may have bred on L Nasser, Egypt, in 1987. Non-breeding visitor north-west to R Gambia and Egyptian stretches of R Nile.

Population
Estimated population is 15,000 - 25,000 (2010).

Status NT
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Food
Fish, by skimming the water in flight with its mouth open and lower mandible submerged.

Voice
Xeno-Canto Sound Files (more (10)...)

African Skimmer (Rynchops flavirostris) [XC430459]
by Phil Gregory from Kazinga Channel near Mweya, Queen Elizabeth II National Park, Western Region, Uganda (call)

African Skimmer (Rynchops flavirostris) [XC446042]
by Andrew Spencer from Okavango Pan Handle, Botswana (call)

Nest
An unlined scrape in the sand.

Subspecies
Forms superspecies with Black Skimmer (Rynchops niger) and Indian Skimmer (Rynchops albicollis) with some authorities suggesting that all might be conspecific, but good evidence apparently lacking.

No subspecies.

References
See References.

Files:

JPG files for African Skimmer (Rynchops flavirostris) - 10 files

More Information

BirdLife International

For more information about the African Skimmer see... Show Articles

BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

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