 Skimmer Resembling the related tern this seabird has a long laterally compressed bill of which the lower mandible is one fourth longer than the movable upper mandible. There bill is adapted for skinning the water's surface to catch shrimp, and small fish that form of their diets.
Gregarious and partly nocturnal, they have sensitive narrowed eyes . The black skimmer has a white belly and black above being the largest at 20 in. long, the only American member, is found along the Atlantic coast of North America and on both sides of South America . | 
