The Indian Skimmer (Rynchops albicollis)
-
A bird living on the edge
Introduction
The Indian Skimmer
is also known as the Indian Scissors-bill. Usually shallow water birds have
their beak tipping equally but this bird has lower-half longer – hence
nicknamed scissor-bill. It is mostly found on estuaries, exposed areas of shallow
riverbeds (like sandbars and islands), coastal wetlands etc.
Indian Skimmer
has got its epithet because it skims out food from water. In polluted water, insects and fishes tend to
live lower down. Thus they secure their life by avoiding a swim near surface. As
this bird doesn’t dive down, and visits only water surface for food, fresh
water is important for this otherwise terrestrial bird.
This bird
is a visitor to Nalsarovar Bird Sanctuary which is a fenland spread over an area
of 120.82 sq. km., which as a whole, is one of the largest shallow freshwater
lakes in India, with around 360 islands scattered in it. This shallow marsh, fed
by fresh water in this season, is just perfect for Indian Skimmer. Almost every
year juvenile Indian Skimmers visit Nalsarovar.
 |
| Indian Skimmer Rynchops albicollis
- Immature |
Observation
Indian Skimmer
is known for their unique bill, which has a much longer lower mandible, perfectly
specialized for feeding technique of skimming on water’s surface for aquatic
prey. Its striking orange color is difficult to miss.
We sighted
a single immature Indian Skimmer on one of the sandy grassy island of Nalsarovar
on 12th September, 2015. This young Skimmer was brownish-grey in
color with pale fringes on the shoulder feathers, the back and wing covers. The
head was whiter than that in the adult bird and long thick bill was orange–brown
with a dark tip. Feet and legs were faded orange in color. Wings were long, pointed
with short forked tail and a central blackish feather.
 |
| Indian Skimmer Rynchops albicollis
- Immature |
Feeding
Skimmer was
foraging and even resting with River Terns. The Terns seemed to have no
objection over that particular fact. Skimmers usually forage for food by flying
low over water with bill open and lower mandible ploughing the water surface. That’s
why its Guajarati name is Jalhal-“જળહળ” literally meaning “water plough”.
We observed
its remarkable aerobatic skills to maintain bill on a steady furrowing path
through the water surface. When a silver fish was confronted, the lower
mandible rose up instantly and snapped shut by maneuvering of head. In this
process, excess water is effectively drained from beak and pray is eaten while
bird is on flight. Indian Skimmer repeated skimming and hunting up several
times in the daylight and continued till late dusk.
It was
amazing to watch – as we were on a shaking boat with whirling wind. So we had
no option left other than a mere observation. Still we were lucky enough to get
some photographs at times.
Behavior
But on that
island, there were several Red-wattled Lapwings with chicks. So by their very
nature, Red-wattled Lapwings were very aggressive and noisy – summarily
raucous! It looked like they were against Indian Skimmer getting settled on one
place.
The Skimmer
looked like seeking place between River Terns and sometimes Pacific Golden Plovers.
The lonely Indian Skimmer kept flying in the area between two small islands. Even
during the flight, Red-wattled Lapwings were constantly mobbing around.
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| Indian Skimmer Rynchops albicollis
- Being mobbed by Red-wattled Lapwing |
 |
| Pacific Golden Plover Pluvialis fulva |
Generally Indian
Skimmers are very silent. But here, disturbed by Red-wattled Lapwings, we heard
a shrill screaming note like kap…kap…, particularly during flight.
We were
also surprised to see presence of local people on the same island. They were
camping there with their cattle. We were unable to guess the reason behind
Indian Skimmer’s choice of location. And we couldn’t know why only a single
bird had arrived. Was it a fall back? We had also registered an injured Indian
Skimmer few
 |
| Pacific Golden Plover Pluvialis fulva |
days back in the same locality.
Finally
light got dimmer due to dusk and rainy clouds – even small droplets of water
started to fall. We decided to retreat. Our backward journey to the shore was
somewhat scary due to bad weather, and took almost 2 hrs. Still it was a
joyride – capturing photographs of an Indian Skimmer for the first time was
definitely an unforgettable experience for us.
Acknowledgments:
We like to
thanks Dr. R. R. Pathak for helping documentation and valuable suggestions.
