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Behavior of Black Skimmers at Cardwell Island, Virginia 1

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Behavior of Black Skimmers at Cardwell Island, Virginia 1 THE AUK A QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGY VOL. 54 JVLY, 1937 No. 3 BEHAVIOR OF BLACK SKIMMERS AT CARDWELL ISLAND, VIRGINIA 1 BY OLIN SEWALL PETTINGILL• JR. Plates 16, 17 CXRDWELLISLXND, a narrow strip of land three quartersof a mile in length, lies adjacent to the southwesternend of Cobb Island, Virginia. Scarcelymore than an emergedsand-bar with a blunt, central ridge of grass-tufteddunes, its chief value to the ornithologistlies in the longsouth- easternbeach where a groupof BlackSkimmers (Rynchops nigra nigra) has returnedeach year to nestand rear their young. In 1933, I was on CobbIsland and from June 23 to July 6 made frequent visitsto this colonyby crossingthe narrowchannel which separates the two islands. A shortwalk from this point broughtme to the centralsection of thebroad beach, where the birds were nesting. Here upon the loose, sandy terrain, the continuityof whichis brokenup by piecesof driftwood,small plants,clumps of grassesand innumerablemulticolored shells of mollusks, were approximatelyfour hundredskimmers' nests. Without any lining whatsoever,they were mere depressionsin the soft soil. Two-thirdsof themat the timeof my firstvisit contained young; the remainder contained eggs. Three or four was the usualnumber in the clutch,rarely two or five. Interspersedamong the skimmers'nests were two nestsof the Least Tern (Sterna antillarum antillarum), five of the Gull-billed Tern (Gelochelidon nilotlcaaranea), and twelveof the CommonTern (Sternahiru•do hlrundo). In studyingthe behaviorof the skimmerson thesenesting grounds, a blind was occasionallyused. This was placedin the midst of the colony within easy view of twenty-threeskimmers' nests, as well as one of the Gull-billed Tern and two of the Common Tern. As a contribution to our , Read at the Fifty-fourth Stated Meeting of the A. O. lJ., Pittsburgh, Pa., October 21, 1936. The author is indebted to Dr. Alfred O. Gross of Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine, and Mr. Francis H. Allen of West Roxbury, Massachusetts, for a critical reading of this manuscript. 237 T•v. Amr, Vo•. 54 BLACK SKIMMEH8 FEIGNING INJURY IN THE VICIN•EY OF THEIR 238 r•.•N•LL,Behavior ofBlack Skimmers [jAulU•y knowledgeof the Black Skimmer,I have presentedin the followingpara- graphscertain of my observationspertaining to its behaviorat Cardwell Island and the immediatevicinity. Unless otherwiseindicated, these ob- servations were made from a blind. Mating.--Since the nestingseason was already under way at Cardwell Islandby June23, I did not expectto seeany sort of courtshipbehavior. On June 28, however,I sawit occurin oneinstance. Not twenty feet from me an adult, whichI later ascertainedto be a female,stepped from her nest to greet, a few feet distant, her mate who had just arrived in the vicinity. Walking to within three feet of him, shecame to a stop. After a moment's hesitationthe newcomerbowed his head,leaned forward, and with conspic- uousdeliberation picked up a smallpiece of driftwoodsix inchesin length and nearly half an inch in diameter. In order to seizethis with his mandi- blesof unequallength, he tilted his headslightly to oneside and, openink his mouth, insertedthe tip of the longer,lower mandible in the sandbeneath it. Closing his mandibles, he lifted the stick crosswisebetween them. Then, assuminga stance more erect than usual, the suitor slowly and stiffly approachedhis inamorata,projecting his bill with its contentsdirectly towardher. Within onefoot of her he paused. The next move was hers. With bill pointingdownward, head drawn closely back uponher shoulders, she cautiously,almost coyly, steppedtoward him. Once within reaching distance,she hesitated and, then, with a suddenupward jerk of her head, took the stick gently from his mandiblesand carefullyreturned it to the ground. Copulationimmediately followed. The nest which this female left containedtwo eggs. Two days later I notedthree. Copulationhad apparentlycontinued during the layingof the clutch. This preliminaryact in the dischargeof the sexualfunction in- volvingthe passingof the stick,was undoubtedlya feedingreaction,--an inedibleobject being substitutedfor food,--and servedas an extrinsicin- fluencein the heighteningof the seximpulse. Activitiesduring incubation.--Thebelief that the Black Skimmerleaves its nestand eggsfor the entireday, allowingthe sunto supplythe heat re- quiredfor incubation,was long ago dispelledby Dr. Frank M. Chapman.• The fallacyof sucha beliefis all the moreemphasized if one visitsthis is- land on a hot summer'sday and walks over the sand barefooted. The intensityof the heat absorbedfrom the solarrays is extremelypainful. Certainlythe skimmerembryo cannot be adaptedto suchhigh tempera- tures. Furthermore, if there is a wind, the dry, sifting sand levelsover the nest depressionsand buriesthe eggsin a very short while. That the skimmeris able to copeto someextent with the constantsift- • 13amps and Cruises of an Ornithologist. D. Appleton and Co., New York, pp. 64-75, 1908. Vol.1937 541J PETTINGILL,Behavior ofBlack Skimmers 239 ing of the sandwhen the wind blows,was exhibitedon oneoccasion when I first placedmy blind in the colony. For thirty-five minutesa skimmerwas absentfrom a nearby nest. In the interim the eggshad becometwo-thirds coveredwith sand. This apparentlycaused the incubatingbird no concern for, uponits return, it reachedunder each egg with its bill and pried it to the surface. Then, settling upon them, it began to turn round and round in the nest, pushingthe new sand away from the eggsand out of the de- pressionwith backward thrustsof its feet until the nest was restoredto its former depth. A. C. Bent• and othershave indicatedthat only the femalestake part in incubation. Two observationsmade by me showthat both sexestake part in this reproductiveprocess. In one easeI saw an adult leaveits nest and take wingjust as its mate alightedbeside it. The newly arrivedbird paused severalminutes and, as its mate disappearedover the colony,settled upon the eggs. In another instancea skimmer,which had been crouchingfour feet away from its incubatingmate for an undeterminedlength of time, suddenlyambled up to the sideof the nest. But the incubatingbird, un- like the one in the observationpreviously cited, choseto remain upon the eggs. Its reluctanceto leave,however, failed to quell the desireto incubate on the part of its mate. Consequentlyit proceededto crouchbeside the latter and, with an effeetlvepush, dislodgedthe occupantand took pos- session of the nest. To what extent the male skimmer takes part in incubationis a matter for speculation,since the sexesare undeterminableboth in appearanceand in general behavior. These observationstend to indicate that both sexes take an equal part in the incubationprocess. The secondobservation particularlyshows a strongineubative instinet in both partiesconcerned. Activitiesof young.--Onecan readily see that the chicksof the Black Skimmer are well adapted to the vicissitudesof their hot, sandy environ- ment. When broodingis not affordedby the adults, whichoften leave the nestinggrounds temporarily, the youngresort to the shadeof the nearest grassclumps, plants, large shells, and driftwood,and therefind protection from the sun'srays. Especiallydo I recallone large log lying on the beach in such a fashionas to give shadealong one entire side. Here I counted twenty-one chicks,ranging in age from two to seven days, which had soughtprotection from the direct sunlight. When left alone,the chickswould not permit themselvesto be inundated by the blowingsand. Rather would they continueto move constantly, shakingthe sandfrom their backswith muchannoyance. If I appearedin plain view to them outsidemy blind, they would instinctively remain • Life Histories of North American Gulls and Terns. Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus., no. 113, p. 314, 1921. 240 r•.•N•, BehaviorofBla• Skimmers [July[Auk motionless. By so doing the fine sand would sprinkle over their buffy down and renderthem all the more protectivelycolored. S.C. Arthur (cf. Bent, Life Histories of North American Gulls and Terns, p. 315, 1921) has called attention to the fact that occasionallythe skimmer chicks will entrench themselvesin the sand of their own accord, lying flushwith the surfaceof the beach. This habit I noticedmany times. NeverthelessI saw that, eventhough thus hidden,they would not allowthe sand to cover their backs and would wriggle continuallyto keep it from collectingthere. Broodingof youngby ad•dts.--Althoughthe skimmerchicks wander away to find shadeunder variousobjects, the parent birds, I observed,do not as a rule join them but return insteadto the vicinity of their originalnesting sites. This has apparentlyresulted in certain of the young returningto parents other than their own and being cared for by them. On June 23, I noted one adult broodingtwo chickswhose ages differed by at least five days. In another, more unusualcase I saw an adult skimmer return to its nest which containedthree small young, presumablyits own. One of them had recently emergedfrom the egg. Shortly thereafter two more chicks, obviouslymuch older, appearedat its side,one followingthe other. Both crawled beneath the old bird which offered no objection. Becauseof the noticeabledifference in agesit wasapparent to me that the chicksbrooded by thesetwo birds werenot in eachcase hatched from the sameset of eggs. More extensive observationsare necessaryto prove conclusively that broodingbirds of this speciesalways tolerate the presenceof youngother than their own as thesetwo adultsappeared to do; but certainlythroughout my hoursof
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