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Decline of the Skimmers
HARLINGEN — The surf-side portrait is immediately recognizable.
Black above, white below, and if the bird is in the air, chances are its severely overshot lower jaw is ripping through the water as it buzzes low over the Laguna Madre, snapping up fish without breaking glide.
The black skimmer is one of three skimmer species worldwide but is the only one found in Texas and the United States.
Problem is these iconic shorebirds are in sharp decline in Texas, with estimates putting nesting pairs at 5,000 annually, half what it was 40 years ago.
https://www.valleymorningstar.com/2020/02/12/decline-of-the-skimmers/
