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.