American oystercatcher

Haematopus palliatus

Photo by Dick Daniels (Wikipedia)

Common name:
American oystercatcher (en); ostraceiro-americano (pt); huîtrier d'Amérique (fr); ostrero americano (es); braunmantel-austernfischer (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Charadriiformes
Family Haematopodidae

Range:
This species breeds along both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of North America and South America, from New Jersey and Baja California south to central Chile and Argentina, including several islands in the Caribbean.

Size:
These birds are 40-44 cm long and have a wingspan of 76-90 cm. They weigh 400-700 g.

Habitat:
The American oystercatcher is found in various coastal habitats, including rocky and sandy beaches, mudflats, salt ponds, salt marsh islands, estuaries and river mouths.

Diet:
They feed on oysters, mussels, clams and limpets, as well as snails, crabs, sea urchins, starfish and worms.

Breeding:
American oystercatchers are monogamous and breed in February-July. They nest on a shallow depression on the ground, located just above the high water mark. The female lays 2-4 buff-grey eggs with dark-brown speckles, which are incubated by both parents for 24-29 days. The chicks leave the nest within 24 h of hatching. They start flying after 5 weeks, but continue to follow the parents for several month until they learn the basic feeding techniques and become fully independent.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a large breeding range and is described as common. The overall population trend is stable, although some populations have unknown trends. In North America the populations has undergone a large increase of 20% per decade over the last 4 decades.

African black oystercatcher

Haematopus moquini

Common name:

African black oystercatcher (en); ostraceiro-preto-africano (pt); huîtrier de Moquin (fr); ostrero negro africano (es); schwarzer austernfischer (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Charadriiformes

Family Haematopodidae

Range:

This species is found along the coasts of southern Africa, from northern Namibia to the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa.

Size:

These birds are 42-45 cm long. Females tend to be larger than males, weighing 646-800 g while males weigh 482-757 g.

Habitat:

African black oystercatchers generally prefer rocky and/or sandy shores of islands or the mainland, occasionally moving to lagoons, estuaries and coastal pans.

Diet:

They mostly eat mussels and other aquatic invertebrates, namely limpets, whelks, polychaetes, anemones, clams and sand hoppers. They do most of their foraging in the intertidal zone, dislodging molluscs from rocks with a jab of the bill or probing the sand for other animals.

Breeding:

These monogamous, solitary nester breed in September-April, with a peak in November-January. The nest is a simple scrape in the ground excavated by both sexes, usually dug into sandy soil and lined with shells and rock chips. If the substrate is too hard to dig into, it places extra shells and rock chips along the rim of the nest. It is typically placed close to the high-water mark, concealed by an adjacent object such as kelp or a rock. there the female lays 1-2 eggs, which are incubated by both sexes for 27-39 days. The chicks leave the nest after about 24 h and are cared for by both parents, who regularly feed them in or near the intertidal zone. They fledge after 35-40 days but only become fully independent 2-6 months later.

Conservation:

IUCN status - NT (Neasr threatened)

The African black oystercatcher has a global population of just 5.000-6.000 individuals, being susceptible to human disturbance, especially urban development and the use of off-road vehicles on beaches (destroying nests). Predation of eggs and chicks by domestic dogs and natural predators can also be a problem for this small population with low reproductive rates. Despite this, the population is suspected to be increasing thanks to improved habitat management on near-shore islands.