OYSTERCATCHERS!
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- čas přidán 18. 08. 2023
- If you have visited the wetlands or coastlines of Europe, you may have been lucky enough to spot the striking markings of an oystercatcher. They have black heads, backs, wings and tails, with contrasting white feathers running along their undersides and up to their shoulders. In flight they show a white rump and a white stripe running along each wing. Alongside this they also have bright orange bills, red eyes and pink legs. Oystercatchers weigh from 380 to 520 grams and have wingspans of 72 to 83 cm. Outside of the breeding season, most of them have a white chin strap.
The oystercatchers name is a bit misleading as they only very rarely eat oysters. Their main diet includes cockles and mussels such as this one here, which the bird is expertly hamering open, but they can also use their beaks as probes to collect worms from soft soil and mud and invertebrates and crustaceans from on and below the waters surface.
Historically Oystercatchers were almost always seen along coastal estuaries and shorelines, and this is where they are still most common during the winter, but over the past 50 years or so, some of them have been moving noticeably inland for nesting. They are resident in the UK and the western shores of Europe, but there is also a migratory population that breeds in Northern Europe, western Russia and eastern asia, these birds head south in the colder months and spend their winters along southern European, Asian and African coastlines.
Nesting for oystercatchers begins in early march when established pairs return to their breeding territories and single birds that are at least 3 years old, attempt to attract mates using a noisy head down display. After pairing each pair creates a scrape nest that is on the ground and well camouflaged. It usually includes only a small amount of material around its edges and can be on a shingle beach, among farmland, on lake islands and I have even seen them nesting on the gravel covered roofs of some large buildings. Each pair will lay between 1 and 4 mottled eggs that are olive in colour and measure about 5 and a half centimetres long. Both adults incubate the eggs and after 24 to 27 days the chicks hatch out. These are precocial and can see, stand, walk and even run just a few hours after hatching. At first they are covered in a layer or mottled down, they lack the long orange bills and blend in well with their surroundings. Unlike most other wading birds, the chicks do not feed themselves straight away, with both parents providing most of their food for the first few weeks. As the chicks grow, they gradually moult to have similar markings to their parents and at around 30 days old they are able to fly and have the beginnings of the characteristic long bill. Young birds stay with their parents throughout the summer whilst they learn how to find enough food for themselves. In the autumn, the birds move away from their nesting territories often joining large coastal flocks and it is around this time that young birds will finally be independent. They will only raise one clutch of chicks in a year and Oystercatchers are thought to be monogamous if they are succssfull at raising chicks and will return to their chosen nesting area year after year. One pair was recorded returning to the same site for 20 years in a row!
Over the past 25 years, oystercatcher numbers have dipped by 22% in the UK, which has been attributed to several factors, including higher levels of predators, disturbance from people and pets and changes of land uses in wetland areas. Whilst researching for this video, I found that until the 1700s oystercatchers were known as Sea pies and I wanted to include that in this video but didn’t know where, so here you go. They have an average lifespan of around 12 years with the oldest ringed wild bird surviving for 40 years, one month and 2 days. Here is an example of an oystercatchers call.
Some of the footage and images used in this video were obtained using creative commons licences, the originals can be found at:
• De Wereld van het WAD ...
• Oystercatcher teaching...
• Oystercatcher finds so...
• Huîtrier pie (Haematop...
• Huîtrier pie (Haematop...
• Huîtrier pie (Haematop...
• Oystercatcher offers t...
• Oystercatcher
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Thumbnail: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
#birdwatching #birding #wildlife
Where I live, Burry Port, West Wales, I signed a petition many years ago, to stop development of the dock area, because not only did it increase mooring fees but also included a gated structure to retain seawater in the dock, thereby denying an area for wading birds to feed. I'm glad to report that it's since been removed, partly because of the time/tide limits it imposed for boats, but am pleased to see that birds of all kinds are back again. It had also become a haven for large rats. Saw a couple of black headed gulls there, a black backed gull {none of which I'd seen for an age} and a heron there very recently. Mud deposits have increased again. None too picturesque for some people but the birds don't seem to mind. Neither do I. I recall the smarmy developer guy in the local library, years back and me saying to my anti-development pal, 'Wyn, where do I sign against it ?' I also collected a shitload of signatures myself but suspect a cash bung at the town hall outweighed all else. I love councillors but were I stranded on a tropical island would struggle to eat a whole one.
Hahaha, that last sentence made me chuckle! Good job on doing your best to help in the situation, its a shame when money makes people overlook the natural world. I'm glad the birds are coming back, tidal mud is such a resource for waders and all of them play their parts in the ecosystems that we all rely on. Cheers!
@michaelarchangel1163 We think alike .Some countries make you pay for a mud bath .Seems many have an issue with nature If a bird is pleasant to their eye and small they deem it "cute" a meaningless word from over the waters.Far too many wage war on wildlife ( minus guns) whilst not realising they are at war with themselves .Labelled cute or pest is how they view life .Simpletons....
In Sweden we call them Strandskata. That translates into "Beach Magpie"
It´s one of my favorites when it comes to "common birds". Something about the orangae colors I guess.
I am a truck driver, and for some reason I often see them at different industrial areas...and ofc close to the sea.
Love your channel!
Thanks for that little bit of extra information, I see why they are called that. Cheers!
Beeper birds.Their call is a beep. Love them.
Another information video, thank you. I live on the shore line and we have little egrets and oyster catchers. I wasn’t sure what call I was hearing, however I can actually hear an oyster catcher as I type this (the same as on this video). At least I know what bird I’m hearing now. 😊
Thank you very much! Im so glad you now know what call you was (are) hearing. Cheers.
We have them on the NJ shore and other coastal locations in the USA
They will be american oystercatchers. Very similar but a slightly different species.
I live reasonably central in Yorkshire, 50 miles to the west coast, 80 to the east (that's driving, not a straight line). I work in a large garden surrounded by fields and for more than 10 years we have had oystercatchers breeding here in summer. It's mid August now and they are still around.
Thats brilliant. I wonder why/how they found the place in the first place. But if they return every year, it must be a great place for them, long may it continue!
And they are back again for 2024 ❤
Great video Liam. As a boy I was a bit obsessed with Oysercatchers, they used to roost on the Fylde Rugby Club train8ng pitch across the road from my house, I’d watch them from my bedroom window.
Thanks Philip. They used to nest on the Lidl roof opposite a house I lived in as a kid.
We get them everywhere here (inland). Often on the farm most of the year round, but also nesting on the office garden roofs.
Saw my first oystercatcher last week. Scavenging in a McDonald’s car park😮 inland about 8 miles.
I've seen them in carparks but never scavenging. They love to nest on the flat roofs of some industrial areas which might be why they were there.
Beautiful birds, I often see them when I visit Poole harbour. Never seen their little mating ritual, how interesting, so many different rituals amongst the bird fraternity - always fascinating to watch. Thanks Liam, great video as always 🦅
Its interesting, I love the way they dip their heads and then run forwards, almost as if they've lost balance. Thanks for watching and thanks for commenting :)
I was lucky enough to photograph one or two last week in Scotland 🏴
Nice, I haven't been to check my local site for them recently but will do soon :)
Just passed a bunch in my car and I thought, wonder if there's a YT vid on these fab little birds? Of course there is. This one is excellent.
Saw oystercatchers in the midlands. Had no idea what they were back then so we called it the Wotsit bird, because its bill looks like a wotsit
Haha, it is exactly the same colour as a wotsit to be fair!
Loads of them in the Forest of Bowland, quite a way from the sea. And near Aviemore, ditto. Nice Avocet at the end!
Thats interesting, I dont know the area but there must be something around there that attracts them.
Yes, When I filmed this I was sure I had made a lapwing video in the past but I cannot find it on my channel... Maybe I imagined it but at least theres one more video for me to make in the future. Cheers!
I think the way things are going we will have lost most if not all of our wildlife due to mankind.
And that would be a great shame .. keep up the good work work LIAM lets save these great birds before its too late
Thank you, everyone can do their own little bit, I like to think that mine is helping people to know about the wildlife that is around them. Cheers
Another wonderful video Liam. Isn’t nature wonderful the way they camouflage with their surroundings. Oyster Catches are beautiful birds Thank you ❤
Yes, it's such a contrast between the colours of the adults and the chicks. Thanks for watching :)
We have lots of oystercatchers in North America. They breed in my New York City beach!
Got to be one of my favourites. Loved learning a bit more about them. Sea pies! Never knew that 😊
Thanks Lily Rose!
😆 that Lapwing video thumbnail looks remarkably Avocet-like! 😆 Nice factoid about the Oystercatcher. A bird I'm pretty familiar with from my Hunstanton holidays, but the chinstrap outside the breeding season was news to me! Also it was good to see footage of the young but fully feathered bird with the shorter bill and flesh coloured legs. 👍👍👍
Thanks Graham. Funnily I am editing some footage from hunstanton as I type and some of the footage in this video is from there.
When I filmed this intro/outro I was certain I had made a fact file in the past about lapwings but it isn't on my channel so I think I must have imagined it. I'll do one soon so I can rectify my mistake. Cheers
We have them at the shore in New York City. They’re wonderful birds.
They'll be American oystercatchers which are slightly different but very similar.
I live in Wales, very near the coast and have seen these beautiful birds in a nearby field. I love to hear their calls to each other when they fly quite low over our house. I think they're my favourite birds 😊
Ahh, brilliant. Well hopefully this video helped you to learn a bit more about them :) Cheers!
Hi Liam brilliant video very interesting to watch keep up with all your wonderful work and videos Bernard
Thank you Bernard!
Firstly I had to find your channel again, it said unsubscribed when i found again, I don't know why I have watched loads of your videos an i love these ones the best. Keep up the Gr8 work Liam.
Good job on finding it again Rob, a few people have said similar but CZcams denies that it automatically unsubscribes people so I dont know what has happened, must be a glitch. But the important thing is that you are back. (I can see you've commented twice so will respond more to the other comment)
Funny how they look similar but different to our south island pied oystercatchers here in nz.
As they feed on bi-valves I can't imagine that the mass release of sewage into our coastlines is helping them either! Used to hear lots of them flying through the central belt of Scotland, miles from actual coastline. :)
Yes, I think the knock on effect of that is unmeasurable but going to be seen for years to come sadly. There has to be another way!
Not long found your channel mate, its kept me entertained for a few hours watching your videos, keep them coming 👍
Cheers, I'm glad to hear you are enjoying the videos.
I just saw my first oystercatcher this weekend! Great to see that you updated a video on them. :)
Thats perfect timing then. I'm glad you saw your first one and subsequently found this video! Cheers
I’ve never seen an oystercatcher my self but they look incredible! Almost like a cross between a magpie and blackbird nice video!😊
Thank you very much. Its hard to see in videos but they are quite a chunk bigger than magpies or blackbirds but I do see where you are coming from. I hope you do get to see one in the flesh someday. Cheers!
I just saw one today!
Brilliant video, Liam. I saw my first Oystercatcher at Dungeness - I visit a few times a year. I was surprised how bold and striking the orange beak and the eyes where. Fascinating birds to watch, especially when they are digging for worms and that sort of thing.
Excellent info, another great video.
Thanks Calvin! If you catch them in the right light they are so vibrant, but they can also appear quite dull in the wrong lights. Thanks as always for your comment, catch you on the next one. Cheers
@@AShotOfWildlife you are very welcome :)
Thanks Liam another wonderful video, what a great way to spend a relaxing few minutes watching the wonderful wildlife, what a great way to start the week. PEACE and LOVE to EVERYONE ❤❤.
Thank you. I hope you're week continues to be great!
found this imediatly after watching "a chick called albert" hatching an oyster catcher
sea pies awsome name we should bring it back!
That dude is an awesome bird saviour!
That was a happy coincidence on my part. He's a great storyteller!
We were in Iceland this summer and we saw of lot of these beautiful birds. While sightseeing around the Snæfellsness peninsula, we went to get something to eat in one on the villages and we noticed an oystercatcher in the parking lot than seemed rather confused and reluctant to leave. Turns out she had laid three eggs just outside the restaurant, right in the grass next to the sidewalk. Poor girl, I still think of her sometimes and hope she is doing okay.
We had a pair of Oystercatchers/ Sea Pies spring breed in the herb garden of Brownsea Island. The herb garden is used by the kitchen. The area they chose to breed in was blocked off to the public and staff so the birds didn't get stressed by the public and staff. The staff at Brownsea Island have been watching the chicks grow up from a safe distance. The Oystercatcher/ Sea Pies are such beautiful birds :) Thank you for the hard work that you do in making these videos :)
Thank you. Great work on fencing the area off to allow them to breed successfully, have they nested there for multiple years?
@@AShotOfWildlife This was their first year there. So I am thinking they might come back next year to the same area, will see what happens
Great vid Liam. I've seen the occasional pair of Oyster Catchers around my area, which is about 30 miles from the coast.
Thanks Bob. They are quite an exotic looking bird, especially if you see them away from the coast in an urban area.
I see literally dozens of oystercatchers when I'm cycling along the Coast & Camel estuary with my camera & always seem to come home with at least one shot of them - they're so photogenic.
A Few weeks ago I watched a couple see off a lone adult & it took me ages to spot the 2 chicks, in a cleft in the rocks - their camouflage is incredible.
Thats interesting. A couple of weeks ago I was at a Norfolk coastline and there were plenty of families of oystercatchers, seemingly getting along well. But there was a bit of an altercation between a pair of oystercatchers and a pair of avocets (Which you might see in my next video). Thanks for watching!
One of my favourite birds, always a joy to see and hear them. One of my favourite spots is the Bar at Wells-next-the-Sea.
Cheers! I havent been up to Wells for quite a while but will definitely get up there as the autumn birds start to arrive, its a lovely spot.
Thank you Liam for another great video. Here in Bury Lancs they nest in the rolling hills under the Pennine moors. They can be heard flying over my estate and allotment. They feed on what is known as Elton Raz, which is an amazing place with humdreds of Twitchers turning up to see bonkers birds from; Pintails, common scoters, little grebe, hen harriers, merlin, cuckoos, godwits, snipe, 5 types of terns, osprays, and dozens of other super rare birds. Cheers
Thank you. That sounds like a brilliant place, which I will add to my list of places to visit when I can. Perhaps i'll make a video from my visit. Thanks for the tip!
Those baby sea-pies at 2:54 look ridiculously cute 😍
Another nicely edited and informative video, thanks Liam 👍
Thank you Tim!
Adorable, love the videos as always. Would love to see some owl's of Norfolk vids, been seeing so many recently. Although more difficult to film I suppose
Thank you! Owls are on my list, I have been trying to film barn owls for the past few weeks but with no success thus far. I often find that when I am looking for something, it is really hard to find and then once I have filmed one, I will see them everywhere lol. Cheers!
Truly facinating and insightful video as always, we frequently see them inland here in Colchester, I would often take a detour on my commute to work to see them foraging on the Colchester cricket pitch
We call the thing that 'came up on the screen now' .... Avocets. Another interesting thing about oystercatchers is that some 'hammer' into shells whilst others 'prise' their way in. Thanks for another great video!
I know, when I filmed this I was certain I had made a lapwing video before but I cannot find it on my channel now (strangely). I'm going to hop on a computer and hopefully find out where it's gone. Thanks for watching.
No probs, Hopefully it proves that I'm watching and paying attention. Keep up the good work!
@tonycritcher3419 yes, it definitely does. Thank you
@@AShotOfWildlife Always a pleasure to watch
Great presentation and narration as usual! Big like. I grew up hearing the sound of these along the coast, think i will go try film them too 🙂
Thank you. Good luck searching for them. If you're going somewhere coastal, aim for high tide as that's when they'll be easiest to find.
Definitely 'seapies' is the better name. Nice one Liam! ⭐👍
Cheers, I might start a petition to bring it back. Who came up with the name oystercatcher anyway!
Always look forward to your videos - keep up the great work 👌👍
Thank you Andy! I'm glad you're enjoying the video and have a few nice ones coming up which you'll hopefully enjoy too!
I see them quite often near where i live at local nature reserve. I now have a much better insight to them thanks to this video. 👍
Brilliant. Thats the aim of these videos, to help people know a bit more about the nature you can actually see where you live.
Great video mate! Lovely birds they are. By the way.. you said a video about Lapwings at the end and pointed at Avocets. Have a good day!😀👋
Thank you. Yes, when I was filming the intro and outro I thought I had made a video about Lapwings in the past, but I think I must have imagined it or not published it for some reason. But, I will upload a video about them soon and rectify my mistake.
@@AShotOfWildlife its all alright mate! Cant wait😄
In my area of the northeast they are seen in the industrial areas and roofs in out town centre. There cries are very distinctive and keep well away from people.
They definitely seem to be one of the wading birds which has done quite well in places where people live. I guess its because they can bring food for their chicks unlike most other waders. Cheers!
Love oystercatchers.
Definitely agree that they've moved inland since I was a nipper (40 years ago), much like herring gulls have done....I live in Perth which is about 25 miles from the coast in Scotland and you can regularly see (and hear!!) them in parks and gardens here.
Really well done series. Love them. Cheers 👍
Thank you!
Nice one Liam, a beautiful bird indeed.
Thanks Ludwig.
Many thanks 😅
Thank you
The vid at the end looks like an Avocet to me, not a lapwing I'd say it's black and white 🙂
I know, when I filmed this I was certain I had made a lapwing video before but I cannot find it on my channel now (strangely). I'm going to hop on a computer and hopefully find out where it's gone and sort it out. Thanks for watching, hopefully I can get the lapwing video in its rightful place.
Excellent Liam! Lovely video!
Thank you :)
That’s brilliant 👍
I work along the river Ichten and each year they nest on the industrial building roof. I have learned their different calls. And now I know due to their alarm calling when a chick has fallen off the edge. Time to go find the chick. Twice I have found chicks hiding and yes they hide well but the parents give their babies position away from the roof. Once caught I stand on a pallet and get a colleague to raise me up to roof level with a forklift truck where I release the young bird back to the parents.
Makes my day .
Thanks. Thats interesting, do the parents ever dive at you when you are trying to help or just get louder and more animated when you get closer to their chicks? I wonder how they manage to see them themselves, or if they just remember where they last saw them and go back to that place.
No they just call a lot to the fallen chick as if to say we’re here we’re here but we can’t help you. That’s where I CAN help😃
I would send you picture proof if I could work out how to put up a picture on comments.
But noting your question about dive bombing me , reminds me of an incident a couple of months ago where there was a police drone flying around the area. There was 5 seapies following and diving at it all across the river. Was a specticle!
Unfortunately you cant post photos in the comments on youtube, but if you use facebook, I have a page under the same name as this channel which you are welcome to share any photos to.
Another great video Liam, thanks.
Thanks for watching and thanks for taking the time to leave a comment!
Brilliant thanks.
We have a pair that nest on the roof of the sports centre just outside the Glasgow boundary. I don't know if it's because of the strong lighting but we hear them calling while flying at night.
Thats cool. I think I have heard them calling in the night here too, but didnt pay attention to if there were lights around or not.
Nice work!
Thanks!
Thank you so much!
We have had two down Tilbury this year an after going down to a bottle dump area with long grass embankment an plenty of nice mud when the tide goes out they had two chicks an I have seen them grow into young Adults. Also down there Egyptian Geese an they had about 6 chicks which all seemed to have survived and looking like there parents now.
I think the Thames must be a pretty good place now for Wildfowl an Birds?
Cheers Rob. I have plans to visit the Thames estuary in the autumn so will be able to see how the wildlife is doing there and will definitely make a couple of videos from my visits. I know that some stretches of the Thames are quite healthy now which is a great turn around!
Great upload !
Thank you!
Excellent
Thank you!
Great vid Liam. I love the name Sea Pie, but I wonder why they call them that?
Perhaps they taste good? 😮
I'm presuming it was in the sense of 'sea (mag)pie', as the magpie was historically known as simply the 'pie' (and is also black and white of course)
@@stevekeiretsu Nailed it.
A colouration of black and white is known as 'pied'.
Im guessing these people are right. A mix of their pied colour and where they are normally seen. I wonder if there are any other birds around the world that are known as pies....
👍
Especially since Oystercatcher aren’t really oyster catchers, I think that I prefer the name “Sea Pies”, instead. Seems to fit them better. They are so beautiful. Did you do all the filming on this one? I really enjoy this video. It’s amazing that they live so long.
I think it's a great name for them.
No, unfortunately I did not do all the filming for this one. Most of the fact file videos I do are a mix of my own footage and creative commons footage. The wildlife walk videos are always all my own footage though. Thank you.
@@AShotOfWildlife thanks for answering. Interesting.
@@donnaml8776 youre welcome. One day, I would love to have the time to do all the filming myself, but I make these videos to try to educate people about wildlife and whilst having a normal full time job, it isnt feasible to film, script, narrate and then edit each video in my spare time- Especially when some thing in nature are so time sensitive.
Thanks for always watching and commenting, I really appreciate it.
Bring back the sea pie name....😂
Were they known as 'Sea Pies' because their feathers are black and white? 🤔
Yes, like magpies.
I wonder where the "Mag" comes from in magpies.
👏👍👌🤘
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Thank you
Are oystercatchers nocturnal at all? I see and hear them a lot at beaches or on a golf course where I stay during the day. At night they're beyond street lighting and I've often wondered if I can see them moving.
I live about 20 miles from the coast and about a mile south of the River Ribble in Lancashire. They often fly over my house in the darkness of the night. I never see them, but I can hear their calls as they pass overhead.
I think they are probably able to move at night and have seen them on the mud flats after dark-which must make it very difficult for them to find food for sure!
A great video Liam and I like the name Sea Pie .Tragic how once again humans are the cause of their falling numbers . If only people would give birds space , peace and quiet ..Terrific presentation .Like #124 Helena
Probably dogs off the leash on beaches are one of the main causes of death in OC chicks..
I think people just dont realise how much we are all connected with the wildlife that is all around us. Cheers
Sea pies it is.....
Lapwing???? Thats an Avocet. Love your stuff but you got to get it right bud. 🤦♂🤦♂🥊🥊😂😂
Haha, I know, when I filmed this I was certain I had made a lapwing video before but I cannot find it on my channel now (strangely). I'm going to hop on a computer and hopefully find out where it's gone and sort it out. Thanks for watching, hopefully I can get the lapwing video in its rightful place.