{"id":10000,"date":"2013-10-27T04:21:03","date_gmt":"2013-10-27T10:21:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=10000"},"modified":"2025-08-24T14:34:46","modified_gmt":"2025-08-24T19:34:46","slug":"adult-and-juvenile-american-oystercatchers-feeding-side-by-side","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/10\/27\/adult-and-juvenile-american-oystercatchers-feeding-side-by-side\/","title":{"rendered":"Adult And Juvenile American Oystercatchers Feeding Side By Side"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AdultAdult and juvenile American Oystercatchers feeding side by side – Nikon D200, handheld, f7.1, 1\/750, ISO 160, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2008 I spent several months during the summer watching an American Oystercatcher family<\/span><\/a> from the time the chicks were tiny until one of the chicks became independent.<\/p>\n

Actually it was until both chicks were independent, one seemed to be ready to leave the parents quite early and I lost track of it after several days. The oystercatcher chick above stayed close to the parents well into the fall.<\/p>\n

There are two species of oystercatchers in North America, American and Black. I am very familiar with American Oystercatchers<\/span><\/a> but have yet to have my lens on a Black Oystercatcher. I suppose that is something I need to add to my bucket list.<\/p>\n

Oystercatchers are monogamous and very territorial, both\u00a0incubate their young but the female spends more time at it. Oystercatchers have been known to “egg dump” and leave their eggs in the nests of other species like gulls and abandon them to be raised by the other birds.<\/p>\n

I would love to witness and photograph that because\u00a0seeing a gull raising an oystercatcher would be fascinating and probably quite amusing too.<\/p>\n

Until 1843 Oystercatchers were called “Sea Pie”. What a name.<\/p>\n

I like the intimate feeling my image above\u00a0conveys with my lens a small window into the world of this oystercatcher family. I also like how the prey\u00a0is shown right in the middle of the juvenile’s open bill.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my American Oystercatcher photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 2008 I spent several months during the summer watching an American Oystercatcher family from the time the chicks were tiny until one of the chicks became independent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":153374,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,27,25,704,2000],"tags":[4004,3974,4040,4136,4077,22,4067,4071,5988,12881,4891,274,4188,3996,4119,4193],"class_list":["post-10000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-oystercatchers","category-avian","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-pinellas-county-florida","tag-adult","tag-american-oystercatcher","tag-feeding","tag-foraging","tag-gulf-of-mexico","tag-haematopus-palliatus","tag-immature","tag-juvenile","tag-oystercatcher","tag-oytercatchers","tag-shore","tag-shorebirds-2","tag-shoreline","tag-water","tag-waves","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatchers-mia-mcpherson-8466.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-2Bi","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2803,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/07\/21\/american-oystercatchers-juvenile-and-adult\/","url_meta":{"origin":10000,"position":0},"title":"American Oystercatchers – Juvenile and Adult","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 21, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I watched this American Oystercatcher juvenile and its sibling from the time they were just tiny chicks beginning the day after they had hatched.","rel":"","context":"In "American Oystercatchers"","block_context":{"text":"American Oystercatchers","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/shorebirds\/american-oystercatchers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Oystercatchers just after sunrise, juvenile on the left, adult on the right. Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/american-oystercatchers-florida-adult-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-0902.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/american-oystercatchers-florida-adult-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-0902.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/american-oystercatchers-florida-adult-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-0902.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/american-oystercatchers-florida-adult-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-0902.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":153665,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/08\/29\/american-oystercatcher-images-from-florida\/","url_meta":{"origin":10000,"position":1},"title":"American Oystercatcher Images From Florida","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 29, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"I am sharing a group of American Oystercatcher photos today that were taken at Fort De Soto County Park and Egmont Key from when I lived in Florida.","rel":"","context":"In "American Oystercatchers"","block_context":{"text":"American Oystercatchers","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/shorebirds\/american-oystercatchers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Oystercatcher feeding in early morning light, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-feeding-adult-mia-mcpherson-6254.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-feeding-adult-mia-mcpherson-6254.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-feeding-adult-mia-mcpherson-6254.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-feeding-adult-mia-mcpherson-6254.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2497,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/06\/14\/american-oystercatchers\/","url_meta":{"origin":10000,"position":2},"title":"American Oystercatchers","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 14, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"American Oystercatchers are fascinating birds to photograph, They can strike unusual poses and their plumage is spectacular in flight. 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County Park in Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/american-oystercatcher-chick-mia-mcpherson-4131.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/american-oystercatcher-chick-mia-mcpherson-4131.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/american-oystercatcher-chick-mia-mcpherson-4131.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/american-oystercatcher-chick-mia-mcpherson-4131.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":35054,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/01\/21\/a-juvenile-american-oystercatcher-on-the-shore-of-the-gulf\/","url_meta":{"origin":10000,"position":4},"title":"Juvenile American Oystercatcher On The 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