Where to see
Rynchops niger
Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas leads · 5 parks ranked by real sighting rates
Share of wildlife watchers reporting a Black Skimmer during a day in the park, from citizen-science data (GBIF)
| # | Park | Country | Sighting |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 2 | Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 3 | Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Padre Island National Seashore | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Ciénaga de Zapata | 🇨🇺 Cuba |
Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas
In Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas, Brazil, about 60% of wildlife watchers report a Black Skimmer sighting on a given day, the highest of the 5 parks where we can rate it, from GBIF citizen-science data.
Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve and more
After Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas, the next-best odds of seeing a Black Skimmer are in Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve (Mexico, about 50%), Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (United States, about 30%) and Padre Island National Seashore (United States, about 20%). Outside South America, the best options are Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve in North America (about 50%) and Ciénaga de Zapata in Central America (about 20%).
It depends on the park
In the top parks, the best months are August in Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas (about 80%), January in Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve (about 70%) and January and February in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (about 40%), as the share of wildlife watchers who report a Black Skimmer on a given day. Each park's Black Skimmer page has the full month-by-month chart.
