Got Chicks?

Almost! Pairs of American Oystercatchers are incubating eggs at the edge bays and sloughs right here in Port O’Connor & Seadrift. Oystercatchers are distinctive looking birds. With their bright orange bill and eye ring, black head, brown back and white chest they look almost clown-like. Both the male and female incubate the eggs and often call to each other with a long loud “wheer-wheer-we-heh-heh-heh”. They earn their name from their eating habits, using their large dagger-like bills to either pry or bound open oysters & other mollusks. They also probe in the tidal zone to retrieve tasty morsels like marine worms and amphipods that live in the sand or mud-flat.

If you see an oystercatcher sitting along the shore line, keep your distance. If the parent is flushed from the nest, the eggs or chicks can fall victim to prey such as gulls, cats, hogs and coyotes. Once hatched oystercatcher chicks can walk after twenty four hours but it takes nearly two months before their bill is strong enough to open an oyster.

Watch for these beautifully strange looking birds and remember to Fish, Swim & Play from 50 yards away! This article provided by Mid-Coast Chapter Texas Master Naturalists. Learn how you can become a Texas Master Naturalist at www.MidCoast-TMN.org