In 2017, we began a black skimmer banding and re-sighting project in collaboration with MassWildlife and The Trustees. Our goal was to learn more about the migration patterns, survival rates, and nesting habits of Black Skimmers at the northern edge of their breeding range.
Each summer, we band as many black skimmer chicks as possible with pumpkin-colored, field-readable bands. Then, each fall and winter, we wait patiently for birders, photographers, and biologists to report sightings of our banded skimmers south of Martha’s Vineyard. In spring, we wait to see which birds return to the Island to nest.
Since the project began, we have banded 87 chicks on Martha’s Vineyard, including 19 in 2026. We have received more than 400 observations of our banded skimmers, including 215 sightings outside of Massachusetts, from places such as New York, North Carolina, and Florida. Of the 68 birds banded through 2025, 39 — or 57% — have been seen at least once away from Martha’s Vineyard after fledging.
Re-sights of our banded birds have given us valuable information about survival, site fidelity, and wintering locations. However, re-sights alone cannot tell us about fine scale movements and resource use by these birds on their nesting grounds or as the migrate south.
2026 black skimmer chick with its new band at Norton Point. Photo by Chris Scott
Loop lines around a skimmer nest. Photo by Kate Goodenough
In 2026, we teamed up with Dr. Kate Goodenough, a Laird Researcher, to take a closer look at the movements of black skimmers using GPS technology. Kate was already deploying tags on black skimmers on Long Island, New York, so adding birds from Martha’s Vineyard will allow her to compare movements between the two colonies and better understand migration routes along the Atlantic Coast.
Understanding these flight paths is becoming increasingly important as offshore wind development expands along the Atlantic Coast. Knowing whether the flight paths of Vineyard and New York-breeding black skimmers overlap with wind energy areas can help researchers assess potential risks, which could include both mortality and non-lethal impacts.
We are also interested in what the tracking data can tell us about the birds’ day-to-day movements around the Vineyard and how they travel south along the coast to their wintering grounds.
In early June 2026, we captured three adult black skimmers using a triangle of leg-loop carpets positioned around their nests. As a bird walks toward the nest, its foot becomes caught in the loop, which tightens as the bird attempts to fly away. We then quickly retrieve the bird and carefully remove it from the trap.
Using this method, we captured one male and one female from the Norton Point/Wasque nesting colony, which is managed by the Town of Edgartown, and one male from the Little Beach/Eel Pond colony, owned by Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation and monitored by BiodiversityWorks.
Once each bird was safely in hand, we took measurements and fitted it with a field-readable band. The three birds received pumpkin bands with code S2, S3, and S4. We then attached a 3.2-gram, solar-powered, rechargeable GPS-GSM transmitter from Global Messenger to each bird using a lightweight harness made from 2 mm Teflon ribbon.
The transmitters collect GPS locations every 60 minutes, around the clock. Data can be collected for up to two years, allowing us to follow these birds through complete cycles of breeding, migration, and wintering. The data are uploaded to Movebank, where we can check in on our birds and follow their movements.
Black skimmer at Norton Point fitted with the GPS transmitter.
Skimmer S2 (female) movement data. S2 nested on Norton Point. Pink dots are the location points and arrows/lines show connection between points. S2 made lots of movements up, down and across Katama Bay.
As with any new technology, there have been a few glitches. At times, the tags have stopped transmitting and then come back online, resulting in gaps of several days in the data. Kate is continuing to investigate why this happens. It may be that the solar panels sometimes don't get enough sunlight to supply sufficient voltate to the transmitters to keep operating.
The gaps have not affected our understanding of the birds’ local movements. It is clear already that Katama Bay is an important feeding resource for these birds. This may explain in part why skimmers were drawn to the Vineyard and the nesting habitat at Norton Point and Little Beach. The shallow, calm waters and abundant fish in Katama Bay add up to a perfect feeding spot for skimmers. Skimmers feed by skimming the water with their lower mandible until they feel a fish to clamp down on. Another fun fact about skimmers is they mostly forage at night! Our tagged birds also traveled out to Edgartown Great Pond and Cape Poge Bay, and made some visits to Sengekentaket and even Nantucket. But why travel too far for dinner when you have lots of food right next to your nesting site?
The migration data have been a little more challenging to follow as the gaps in the data have left out important stopover points.
S4 was the first to leave the Island, departing on August 22. S2 and S3 followed shortly after, leaving on August 30 and September 1, respectively.
All three birds eventually made their way to Ocracoke, North Carolina. We did not receive data showing S3’s movements south, probably because the transmitter was not working during that time. S2 and S4, however, appeared to move along the coast on their way to Ocracoke. Both stopped at Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in New Jersey before continuing south, highlighting the importance of this wildlife refuge as a potential stopping point for these birds as a they head south. All three birds reached Ocracoke within about a week of leaving Martha's Vineyard.
As we write this, all three skimmers are still in Ocracoke, NC, although the S3 and S4 tags appear to be offline again.
Based on our band re-sight data from previous years, we know that places such as Key West and Huguenot Memorial Park in Jacksonville, Florida, are popular destinations for our Vineyard skimmers. But we’ll be watching closely to see where S2, S3, and S4 spend the winter — and, just as importantly, how they make their way north again in the spring. Their journeys will continue to add to our understanding of the timing black skimmer migration, and what important stopover points they are using to rest and refuel.
S2's journey south. She left the Vineyard on 8/30, arriving in New Jersey at Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge the same day and by 9/5 was in Ocracoke North Carolina.
