Though it looks a bit like a seagull, the black skimmer prefers shoveling its prey from the water to begging for garbage on beaches. A skimmer eats by flying just above a smooth lake or river surface with its flat, blade-like beak open and its lower bill skimming the water. When it strikes a small fish or crustacean, the skimmer clamps the shorter upper bill down. Still flying, the bird pulls its head back to swallow the meal whole. A black skimmer trolls for prey.
Most chitons are rather boring, slow moving, algae-eating mollusks about the size of a chicken egg.
The veiled chiton, however, has evolved a clever weapon. It uses a head flap, or veil, like a trap, keeping it propped at a 45-degree angle. The trap flaps down, and the chiton eats the prey with its rasping tongue. The veiled chiton lives under boulders and rock crevices along the Pacific coastline from Alaska to Southern California. A veiled chiton patiently waits for prey to swim into its trap.