Endangered
Indian Skimmer
Rynchops albicollis
The Indian skimmer or Indian scissors-bill, is one of the three species that belong to the skimmer genus Rynchops in the family Laridae.
Appearance
This bird has a black cap and orange bill that contrasts with the white body. The upper parts of the body are dark black and the underparts are white. The black cap on the head leaves the forehead and nape white.
With its long wings it looks tern-like and is about 40–43 cm long with a wingspan of 108 cm.
Published measurements include mass about 371.
Range and habitat
It is found on large rivers and lakes, swamps and coastal wetlands such as estuaries. Breeding colonies are on islands or sandy spits, usually in rivers. Its range has become increasingly fragmented in recent decades.
Most colonies are unprotected but some lie within nature reserves such as National Chambal Sanctuary in India.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Diet and breeding
The birds forage for food by flying low over the water with the bill open and the lower mandible skimming through the water. The breeding season is mainly March and May.
The nest is a simple scrape on the ground mainly on open sand banks that provide unobstructed views of any oncoming predators. The birds tend to incubate the eggs more during the cooler hours of the day and are often away from the nest during the hotter parts of the day.
In crisis
It is found in southern Asia, where it is patchily distributed and declining in numbers. The population is now mainly within India and Pakistan and is estimated to be about 6,000-10,000 individuals. The decreasing population has led it to being classed as Endangered by the IUCN.
It is threatened by habitat loss and degradation, pollution and disturbance by humans.
Indian Skimmer is Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Indian Skimmer, Wikidata item Q972429. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.
