Abstract
Black skimmers ( Rynchops niger) frequently nest among common terns ( Sterna hirundo) on coastal islands from North Carolina to New York. Behavioural interactions among terns, skimmers, and several potential avian predator species were quantified during the 1973 breeding season at Fisherman Island, Virginia. Common terns were dominant to skimmers, chasing and dive-attacking neighbouring pairs, while skimmers rarely chased terns. Despite agonistic interactions, nesting success of both species was no different whether nearest neighbours were conspecifics or heterospecifics. Common terns chased away potential avian predators much more frequently than did skimmers. Black skimmers, then, appear to derive a ‘protective cover’ benefit from nesting among the terns. Neither nest-site limitation nor food ‘information-sharing’ appear to account for the species associations.
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