CreatureData

African skimmer

Rynchops flavirostris Vieillot, 1816

LCLeast Concernbirds

The African skimmer (Rynchops flavirostris) is a species in the family Laridae, order Charadriiformes. Recorded adults weigh about 164 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

African skimmer (Rynchops flavirostris)
Photo: Malcolm Macgregor · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the African skimmer

Weight
164 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Wingspan
1.06 msrc for Wingspan
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
wetlandsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
2.1 – 2.4src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Aerialsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Partialsrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

How big is the African skimmer?

AFRICAN SKIMMER · WINGSPAN 1.06 MADULT HUMAN · HEIGHT 1.7 M
At 1.06 m, the recorded maximum wingspan of the African skimmer is about 62% of the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

Photos of the African skimmer

Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.

African skimmer (Rynchops flavirostris)
Robert Muckley · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Where does the African skimmer live?

Not recorded

What is the African skimmer?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The African skimmer (Rynchops flavirostris) is a species of bird belonging to the skimmer genus Rynchops in the family Laridae. It is found along rivers, lakes and lagoons in Sub-Saharan Africa.

From the Wikipedia article “African skimmer” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=African_skimmer&oldid=1314513727), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the African skimmer endangered?

The African skimmer is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.

How is the African skimmer classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderCharadriiformes
  5. familyLaridae
  6. genusRynchops
  7. SpeciesRynchops flavirostris Vieillot, 1816

Synonyms Rhynchops flavirostris

Other names and names in other languages (50)
  • WaterploeërAfrikaans
  • أبو مقص أفريقيArabic
  • أبو مقص الإفريقيArabic
  • picutisoria africanuAsturian
  • Африкански водорезBulgarian
  • bec de tisora africàCatalan
  • zoboun africkýCzech
  • sgimiwr AffricaWelsh
  • Afrikansk SaksnæbDanish
  • AfrikascherenschnabelGerman
  • Afrikanischer ScherenschnabelGerman
  • Braunmantel-ScherenschnabelGerman
  • afrika tondilbekuloEsperanto
  • Rayador africanoSpanish
  • aafrika käärnokkEstonian
  • آبشکاف آفریقاییPersian
  • afrikansaksinokkaFinnish
  • Bec-en-ciseau d'AfriqueFrench
  • Bec-en-ciseaux d'AfriqueFrench
  • Bec-en-ciseaux d’AfriqueFrench
  • Sciméar AfracachIrish
  • Skimmeyder AffrickaghManx
  • גזרן אפריקניHebrew
  • גיזרן אפריקניHebrew
  • afrički vodosijekCroatian
  • Afrikai ollóscsőrűHungarian
  • afrikai ollóscsőrűmadárHungarian
  • BakkaskariIcelandic
  • Becco a cesoia africanoItalian
  • Becco a forbice africanoItalian
  • アフリカハサミアジサシJapanese
  • afrikinis žirkliasnapisLithuanian
  • Āfrikas smēlējzīriņšLatvian
  • Afrikaanse schaarbekDutch
  • afrikasaksenebbNorwegian
  • brzytwodziób afrykańskiPolish
  • talha-mar-africanoPortuguese
  • Bico-de-tesoura-africanoPortuguese
  • Африканский водорезRussian
  • AfrikáskárrenjunniNorthern Sami
  • zobáľ podivnýSlovak
  • afriški škarjekljunSlovenian
  • Afrički vodosekSerbian
  • afrikansk saxnäbbSwedish
  • นกกรีดน้ำแอฟริกันThai
  • Afrika MakasgagasıTurkish
  • водоріз африканськийUkrainian
  • Chim xúc cá châu PhiVietnamese
  • 非洲剪嘴鷗Chinese
  • 非洲剪嘴鸥Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List

Relatives of the African skimmer

Other species in the same genus Rynchops.

CompareAfrican skimmer vs Black skimmerAfrican skimmer vs Indian skimmer

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the African skimmer?

An adult African skimmer weighs 164 g and has a wingspan of 1.06 m, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the African skimmer endangered?

The African skimmer is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

What kind of animal is the African skimmer?

The African skimmer (Rynchops flavirostris) belongs to the family Laridae in the order Charadriiformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). African skimmer (Rynchops flavirostris). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/african-skimmer

MLA

“African skimmer (Rynchops flavirostris).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/african-skimmer.

BibTeX
@misc{african_skimmer_2026,
  title = {African skimmer (Rynchops flavirostris)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/african-skimmer},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}