Indian Skimmer

Latin Name: 
Rynchops albicollis
Size: 
40cm
Description: 

Sexes alike, but female slightly smaller. Slender, pointed-winged and tern-like Pied plumage, blackish-brown above, contrasting with white underbody; white forehead, neck-collar and wing bar; diagnostic yellowish-orange beak, with much longer lower mandible; red legs. Solitary or loose flocks fly over water;  characteristic hunting style is to skim over calm waters, beak wide open, the longer projecting lower mandible partly submerged at an angle, to snap up fish on striking; many rest together on sandbars.

Habitat: 
Large rivers; fond of placid waters.
Distribution: 
Most common in N and C India, east to Assam; less common south of Maharashtra, N Andhra Pradesh.
Call Description: 
A shrill scream; twittering cries at nest colony.
IUCN: 
National Status: