This painting captures the behavior that gives skimmers their name. Skimmers fish by touch, flying low, with the long lower mandible plowing the water, snapping their bill shut when it contacts a fish.

"Black Skimmer" was inspired by volunteering for North Carolina Audubon as a bird steward at Wrightsville Beach during the summers. 

As a steward, I help keep a protective eye on the record-setting colony of nesting black skimmers, royal terns, least terns, and oyster catchers at the south end of Wrightsville Beach. I've spent many delightful hours observing black skimmers close up and learning about their behavior and remarkable dedication to raising their young on the beach.