Award Winning Filmmaker Kim Smith Delights in American Oystercatchers
The American Oystercatcher Working Group is pleased to share this wonderful short film, created by Kim Smith, that follows three nesting American Oystercatcher families. Kim fondly refers to these birds as the triplet, twin, and singleton families. Through observing the parents' parenting and sibling dynamics, or lack thereof, Kim was able to compare and contrast their behaviors. She found it to be an incredible experience, learning so much about the life story of this dynamic bird, that she was compelled to share.
Guardianes de los Ostreros | Guardians of the Oystercatchers
As part of the Manomet Small Grants Program for the Conservation of Neotropical Shorebirds, we began implementing a project in August 2025 aimed at generating baseline data on the breeding of the American Oystercatcher and strengthening conservation tools in Villa Gesell, an Argentine coastal town under heavy pressure from tourism during the southern hemisphere summer.
Playing Nice on the Beach – Unusual Observations from a Small Island Population of American Oystercatchers
American Oystercatchers are fiercely territorial, and a pair of nesting oystercatchers generally prefers some space between them and their nesting neighbors. However, there is an unusual oystercatcher oasis in Boston Harbor where nine pairs nest within a maximum distance of about 275 meters! This leads to all sorts of fun and unusual behavioral observations regarding these generally-territorial birds.