African Skimmers

© Lee Whittam

Published: November 22, 2010

Lee Whittam of Mossel Bay, South Africa, photographed this flock of 20 African Skimmers (Rynchops flavirostris) as he flew in a helicopter over the Okavango Delta in Botswana. In addition to great colors and action, the photo also captures the birds’ shadows and reflections in the muddy water.

“The African Skimmers are synonymous with pristine areas of wilderness and are relatively sensitive to human disturbance,” Lee tells us. “Nesting on exposed sand banks during low-water periods further exposes their nests and offspring to predation and is another reason for the status of this bird.” The species is estimated to number 15,000-25,000 birds and is listed as Near Threatened.
 
Lee leads safaris for Essential Africa. He says he emphasizes photography ethics with clients. “When guiding these photographic safaris, I like to try and get across to my guests that we need to photograph the subjects in their natural behavior, not behavior caused or influenced by us.”

See more African birds featured in Photo of the Week:

African Pygmy-falcon
Crowned Hawk-eagle
Lesser Flamingos
Secretarybird
Shoebill
Southern Masked Weaver
Striped Kingfisher
White-bellied Go-away-bird
Woodchat Shrike
Woodland Kingfisher

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