A flock of African skimmer birds glides over the fish-rich waters of Gabon's coastal region. With its uniquely shaped bill, the lower mandible is much longer than the upper one, skimmer birds feed on small fish by flying open-mouthed over the surface of estuaries and rivers.

(Photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Gabon's Loango National Park: In the Land of the Surfing Hippos," August 2004, National Geographic magazine)