Kim Smith is an award winning documentary filmmaker, wildlife conservationist, lecturer, photojournalist, author, illustrator, and an award winning landscape designer.
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.
One of the most interesting behaviors observed were Oystercatcher parents feeding their very young chicks. The parents sliced the clam into smaller bits to make it easier to swallow. Countless times Kim observed a chick dropping its meal in the sand, only to have the parent then scoop up the clam bit, bring it down to the water’s edge, wash it off, and re-deliver to the waiting chick.
Kim followed best practices of ethical photography and filmed the American Oystercatchers with a telephoto lens and gave them a wide berth. She is inspired by a wise woman who has been monitoring AMOY for several decades that if you sit low, alone, and very still, they will carry on with the all-important business of raising their young. Kim hopes to present a narrated version of the film in the coming year.
This documentary would not have been possible without the co-operative work being carried out by the American Oystercatcher Working Group, the late Manomet conservationist Shiloh Shulte, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and countless wildlife organizations, researchers, shorebird monitors, and volunteers.
Kim Smith is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and environmental conservationist. At this time, she has two feature-length documentaries airing on public television, Beauty on the Wing: Life Story of the Monarch Butterfly and The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay. She is currently producing a film about pond ecology. To learn more about her documentary projects and follow her blog, visit kimsmithdesigns.com.