The American oystercatcher first breeds when it is three or four years old. Their courtship in early spring is boisterous, with courting birds pacing quickly over the sand in unison, giving a piping call that increases in tempo, and pivoting in arcing patterns around the beach, sometimes taking to flight in pairs. In one, finding a mussel with its shell slightly open, the oystercatcher quickly jabs its bill into the opening, cutting the muscles and then cleaning out the contents. When an intruder is near its nest, the adult may sit down elsewhere as though it’s tending to eggs. Behavior American oystercatchers don't live in colonies, but they do gather in large groups before migrating. The birds have two methods of opening the shells of bivalves. Feeding Behavior. Both sexes incubate for 23 to 28 days, and rear precocial young.
Female lays one to four buff gray eggs with dark brown speckles.
Usually escape predators by hiding, particularly in first 10 d, but may run or swim (RH). Behavior. Both parents care for the chicks. Often forages by walking in shallow water, searching for food by sight. American Oystercatchers are monogamous and sometimes maintain a pair bond for many consecutive years. Flight. Female and male build scrape nest of sand lined with vegetation and/or small pebbles. A courting pair often attracts neighboring pairs to begin this … This is in the hopes of luring the intruder away from the real nest. The sharp contrast of black and white in the wings is conspicuous in flight, and an important component of the Piping Display (see Sexual Behavior; Miller and Baker 1980). The chicks fledge when they are 30-35 days old, but their parents continue to care for them for another month. Normally deep, rapid wing beats. Smooth, glossy and buff, yellowish or greyish, with regular dark specks, spots or blotches. See Sexual behavior. In the other method, the bird simply hammers on the shell to break it open. Chick Behavior Precocial young able to stand upright and run short distances within hours of hatching. Oystercatchers can jump up (aided by wings) but are unable to climb. One of the strangest behaviors oystercatchers exhibit is false brooding. Nestlings are down covered after hatching, leave nest soon after, and are … American Oystercatcher: Monogamous solitary or loose colonial nester of sandy oceanic coasts and mudflats. Shallow, slow Butterfly Flight used when intruders near nest (RH) or during territorial display …