Thanks for listening. I had a blast talking with Abby, and learning about her work with Black Skimmers and Least Terns in the gulf beaches of Mississippi.

You can read about the trip on the Searcher on my trip report on the BirdBanter.com site in my birding notes section.

You can follow Abby on Facebook and contact her at the Audubon Delta contact page.
Black Skimmer Rynchops niger is an incredibly cool bird, one of my favorites. This is an excerpt from the Birds of the World monograph.

“The buoyant flight of this bird, coupled with its dog-like barks, prompted R. C. Murphy (1) to describe Black Skimmers as “unworldly…aerial beagles hot on the scent of aerial rabbits.”

Its elongated wings and graceful flight pattern are captivating: the bird appears to almost flutter, languidly, yet is simultaneously agile and efficient. This long has captured the notice of naturalists, even of Charles Darwin, who, in observing skimmers foraging on a lake in Uruguay, described their flight as “dexterously managed” while they “ploughed up small fish with their projecting lower mandibles, and secured them with the upper half of their scissor-like bills”( Gould 1841).”
Here are links to some of the podcast episodes I mention on the podcast intro.

The Bird Banter Podcast #170 with Holly Garrod
The Bird Banter Podcast #129 with Jackie Lindsey and Charlie Wright of COASST
The Bird Banter Podcast #70 with Peter Hodum
The Bird Banter Podcast #26 wioth Tim Larson

Thanks for listening. Until next time, good birding and good day!