Creature Feature-Oystercatcher

Imagine having a beak so effective that you could prize open a seashell and get a quick meal on the go? The Oystercatcher is one of very few birds that has mastered this tricky (and sometimes dangerous feat). Despite its name, it rarely eats oysters, leaving them to us lucky humans. Instead it dines on such culinary delights as cockles, crab and mussels. Some birds eat worms from marine areas and they will also move inland to grassy areas to find terrestrial worms when coastal food is scarce.
Their beaks are supremely adapted to the food that they eat and can even change over time. Birds which tend to specialize more and eat shellfish have a chisel shaped beak which is worn down over time. Shellfish eaters can open tightly shut shells by severing the adductor muscle which keeps the shell clamped shut. Mussels are not as thick shelled and can be opened by chiseling, smashing the shell on a rock or dropping it from the sky. Females tend to eat more worms, while males eat more shellfish. Worm eating oystercatchers have more pointed, sharp beaks for stabbing at the worms underground.
There are eleven or so species of this hardy bird worldwide which are found usually around coasts, but sometimes inland, particularly in winter time. The species that is found in Ireland (along the #wildatlanticway) is called the Eurasian oystercatcher or common pied oystercatcher. They are found in flocks but birds pair off with their mates for life. They are long lived, with some birds reaching the ripe old age of thirty or more. Females start reproducing from the age of three and males will reproduce from 5 years of age onwards.
The parents nest on beaches usually in plain sight of all concerned. The nests are fairly perfunctory, a shallow depression with a few twigs. What the nest might lack in architectural brilliance and real estate, it is more than compensated by the parental protection. Their zeal in defending their chicks is admirable and a tad scary. Having an adult bird coming at you full tilt with that long, razor sharp beak as it shrieks at you is quite the intimidation.
One to two chicks are born annually and stay with their parents for a couple of months, learning the tricks of the trade. They observe their parents over and over, acquiring the skills for survival. It is crucial that the chick learns the techniques for feeding correctly. Shellfish sourcing is not an easy job and can potentially be disastrous. There is a case of a fatal encounter between an oystercatcher and a clam in America in 1939. The unfortunate avian was unable to prize its beak loose from the dogged clam and drowned as a result. Having such a specialized beak does bring with it the highs and the lows.

Suzanne Burns, 2015.

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