The Black Skimmer is a common bird among the skimmer family. Mostly, it is known to inhabit the South and North America. For the northern populations, they breed in the Caribbean warmer waters as well as the subtropical Pacific coasts. For the South American based, they mostly make shorter movements. This is in response to the common annual floods in the region. This way, they are able to extend their respective feeding areas to the extensive shallow rivers.

The Black Skimmer mostly breeds within the sandbanks as well as the sandy beaches found in America. The birds incubate at least three to seven eggs. Their eggs are dark-blotched buff relatively kind of bluish eggs. It is the characteristics of both male and female to engage in the process of incubating the eggs. For the chicks, they leave the nest soon after they hatch. They lie inconspicuously within the nest depression. This is where they are shaded especially from high temperatures. It is the sole role of the parents to complete this task. At times, the chicks dig own depressions. Parents to the chicks feed them exclusively at daytime. The night feeding is not very common for this bird species.

The Black Skimmer (Rynchops Niger) is actually 40-50 cm in length for an adult. It has a wingspan of at least 107-127 cm. The bird species males are approximately 325 g in weight. For the females, they are lighter than the males approximately 235 g in weight. In color, the basal half of this bird species is red for the bill. The other part is mainly black. For the lower mandible, it is actually much elongated. The color of the eye is dark brown for the iris. It is catlike for the pupil. This is what makes it a unique bird. The Black Skimmer (Rynchops Niger) legs are red in color. They call actually like a barking sound.

For the adults in breeding period they have a kind of black crown. The upper body also resembles this color. For the forehead together with the under parts, they are white in color. The bird’s upper wings resemble black in color with some white color on the edge. The tail is dark grey in color and some white appearing on the edges. The under wing varies in color. It is white or holds some dusky grey color all dependent on the specific region.

For the non-breeding species of these adult birds, they have paler brown upperparts. Their white nape collar is brown unlike the breeding birds. The immature birds of this species have their upperparts brown in color and some white feathers as well as the fringes.

This bird species practice a light flight. The beats are steady because of the long wings. For food, the black skimmers depend highly on the water surface. They move in large flocks near the water surface. With the mandible skimming in water, they are able to collect small fish, crustaceans, mollusks and insects. They are sharp enough because they can skim during the day as well as at night.