The Black Skimmer is hard to miss on Florida’s beaches – whether gracefully skimming the water for food or “barking” to each other when resting on the upper beach. Despite being seen year-round on Florida’s beaches, not much is known about our nesting population of Black Skimmers.

A new Audubon banding study is trying to fill in some of these unknowns. To band the skimmers, trained researchers safely capture three-week-old chicks, and then gently place a plastic band with a unique code on its lower leg. Researchers and the public use the bands to identify individual skimmers in the coming years. Audubon biologists hope to shed light on juvenile and adult survival, breeding site fidelity, and dispersal after the breeding season. The health of the population depends on younger birds surviving to replace the older birds, and tracking movement also helps Audubon identify priority sites essential for this species.

If you would like to help with this project, be on the lookout for banded Black Skimmers whenever you are on the beach. Please keep your distance, and do not enter posted areas to observe bands. They are easy to read with binoculars from afar! Report your sightings on Audubon’s Florida Banded Bird Resightings Facebook page or email us at FLConservation@audubon.org.