{"id":2497,"date":"2011-06-14T04:11:31","date_gmt":"2011-06-14T11:11:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=2497"},"modified":"2025-08-24T05:39:17","modified_gmt":"2025-08-24T10:39:17","slug":"american-oystercatchers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/06\/14\/american-oystercatchers\/","title":{"rendered":"American Oystercatchers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Strolling\u00a0Strolling Oystercatcher\u00a0 –\u00a0 Nikon D200, f6.3, 1\/2000, ISO 400, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light <\/span><\/p>\n

American Oystercatchers used to be a nemesis bird for me. They were a challenge to expose correctly because of the high contrasts between the whites and dark plus the orange\/red bill. Then one morning I was able to get the exposure right and\u00a0after that the oystercatchers were no longer a nemesis.<\/p>\n

On the Pacific coast in North America there are Black Oystercatchers, they are a nemesis bird but only because I have never had the opportunity to photograph them. Yet.<\/p>\n

I think that American Oystercatchers are beautiful shorebirds, they are striking and unusual and a great deal of fun to observe and photograph.<\/p>\n

American Oystercatchers nest in Florida and I would see a nest or two during breeding season. On one occasion I observed and photographed chicks and their parents for several weeks.<\/p>\n

I kept my distance from the chicks and took larger crops than usual to make sure I didn’t disrupt their normal activity or disturb the adults and chicks.<\/p>\n

\"JuvenileJuvenile American Oystercatcher on a sandbar – Nikon D200, f6.3, 1\/750, ISO 160, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I watched and photographed the juvenile oystercatcher above from the time it was just two days old. It had a sibling who apparently had wanderlust because it left the parents much earlier than this one did and moved south down the beach.<\/p>\n

Juvenile American Oystercatchers have a dark-tipped bill, the adults have a nearly solid orangey-red bill and the tip is just a touch lighter. Juvenile oystercatchers have dark eyes and develop\u00a0a red orbital ring during their first year, adults have bright yellow eyes and the red orbital ring is well defined.<\/p>\n

American Oystercatchers<\/span><\/a> are amazing birds to photograph. I enjoyed watching them pry open bivalves with their long bill, crunch tiny Coquinas, and swallow them whole, and observing what great parents they are to their chicks.<\/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":"

American Oystercatchers are fascinating birds to photograph, They can strike unusual poses and their plumage is spectacular in flight. I enjoyed watching them pry open bivalves with their long bill<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":153320,"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":[4004,3974,4039,4021,5132,4077,22,4067,4071,4036,5988,3816,274,4188,3996,4193],"class_list":["post-2497","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-beach","tag-bird-photography","tag-coastal","tag-gulf-of-mexico","tag-haematopus-palliatus","tag-immature","tag-juvenile","tag-low-angle","tag-oystercatcher","tag-oystercatchers","tag-shorebirds-2","tag-shoreline","tag-water","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-adult-florida-mia-mcpherson-0345.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-Eh","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":20901,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/03\/10\/american-oystercatcher-family\/","url_meta":{"origin":2497,"position":0},"title":"American Oystercatcher Family","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 10, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"It has been five and a half years since I photographed American Oystercatchers at Fort De Soto County Park in Florida and oddly enough I still dream about these shorebirds.","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 family, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-family-mia-mcpherson-8101.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-family-mia-mcpherson-8101.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-family-mia-mcpherson-8101.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-family-mia-mcpherson-8101.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":142,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2010\/08\/14\/nesting-american-oystercatchers\/","url_meta":{"origin":2497,"position":1},"title":"Nesting American Oystercatchers","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 14, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Nesting American Oystercatchers create simple scrapes on coastal beaches, dunes and salt marshes to lay their eggs in. 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