Back in April of last year I witnessed some odd behavior by this skimmer not just once, but twice.
I saw it pick up a Mangrove propagule and got myself into a position to take some photos. The skimmer began to move the propagule in it's beak and then I noticed it passing the propagule over it's beak like it was a trained parrot or some thing. It seemed like it would move the propagule to one of the narrow ends, clamp down the bill and the pod would go over the beak.
Both times I photographed the series but was unable to capture the propagule over the beak. It would have been handy to have a video camera to capture this behavior.
Earlier this spring I saw another Skimmer start this type of activity, but never saw the propagule go over the top of the beak.
I had asked a few member's here on NPN if they had ever seen this behavior in Skimmers and they replied they had not. I also emailed the images to a friend who is a biologist and active bird photographer and she had never seen the behavior before.
Any insights into this unusual behavior would be appreciated.
All images taken with my D200 and my 80-400mm VR lens at 400mm, ISO 200.
Posted by David Sparks on June 12, 2009 at 5:27 PM
Lia:
I've never seen this behavior, but it is very interesting. I read that nestlings lack the asymmetrical bill of adults, and can pick up food and catch insects. This statement implies that it may be difficult for the adult with the asymmetrical bill to do so. Perhaps practice is necessary and manipulation of objects could be an important aspect of breeding behavior because I also read that if a male cannot find his mate a fish, he may still be successful in courting her by presenting a stick or a leaf.
This is all very speculative, of course. At this point, this is the best (read only) insight offered for the behavior you observed.
Great observation. Although I rarely work with colony nesters, I remember reading about object manipulation in a few journal articles in the past. If I remember correctly, it is believed to be one way that many species of colony nesting birds use to blow off steam - so to speak. Was this bird near other birds? It's believed that the manipulation may reduce anxiety from the stress of crowded nesting - their evolutionary equivalent to counting to ten This type of behavior seems to help avoid some of the energy expensive aggressive interactions between nearby nesting pairs. If I can find a copy of the articles I'll email them to you if you are interested.
Perhaps one of the ideas David mentioned could be the reason also. Isn't wildlife observation amazing? - the more we watch the more we want to know!
This skimmer was near other birds, there were more skimmers, Laughing gulls, Royal, least and Sandwich Terns as I recall. The Skimmers were exhibiting courtship behavior and this was in the area that they attempted to nest.
I would be interested in reading the article you mentioned Jay.
Maybe they are simply playing! I have a photo of a seal doing about the same thing with a stick, and it seemed clear he was having a good time with it.
Discussion
8 repliesI saw it pick up a Mangrove propagule and got myself into a position to take some photos. The skimmer began to move the propagule in it's beak and then I noticed it passing the propagule over it's beak like it was a trained parrot or some thing. It seemed like it would move the propagule to one of the narrow ends, clamp down the bill and the pod would go over the beak.
Both times I photographed the series but was unable to capture the propagule over the beak. It would have been handy to have a video camera to capture this behavior.
Earlier this spring I saw another Skimmer start this type of activity, but never saw the propagule go over the top of the beak.
I had asked a few member's here on NPN if they had ever seen this behavior in Skimmers and they replied they had not. I also emailed the images to a friend who is a biologist and active bird photographer and she had never seen the behavior before.
Any insights into this unusual behavior would be appreciated.
All images taken with my D200 and my 80-400mm VR lens at 400mm, ISO 200.
First image in a series of three.
I've never seen this behavior, but it is very interesting. I read that nestlings lack the asymmetrical bill of adults, and can pick up food and catch insects. This statement implies that it may be difficult for the adult with the asymmetrical bill to do so. Perhaps practice is necessary and manipulation of objects could be an important aspect of breeding behavior because I also read that if a male cannot find his mate a fish, he may still be successful in courting her by presenting a stick or a leaf.
This is all very speculative, of course. At this point, this is the best (read only) insight offered for the behavior you observed.
Perhaps one of the ideas David mentioned could be the reason also. Isn't wildlife observation amazing? - the more we watch the more we want to know!
This skimmer was near other birds, there were more skimmers, Laughing gulls, Royal, least and Sandwich Terns as I recall. The Skimmers were exhibiting courtship behavior and this was in the area that they attempted to nest.
I would be interested in reading the article you mentioned Jay.
David's ideas also have my interest.
Thanks for your ideas & input.
sandy