Second Eurasian oystercatcher spotted at Umdloti
Local conservationists praise growing avian diversity as Eurasian Oystercatcher joins North Coast colony.
A second Eurasian oystercatcher has joined Umdloti’s African oystercatcher colony and locals are excited about the prospect that the two could breed.
Biodiversity consultant with The LionHeart Experience, Richard Mckibbin, said one or two have also recently been spotted in St Lucia.
He said the reason for the increased sightings was difficult to pinpoint.
It could be owing to the rapidly growing birding network with ticking sightings of new species being popular. But it could also be because of the influence of weather patterns.
Mckibbin used the open billed stork as an example. These birds usually stick to Zimbabwe, Mozambique and northern Zululand but with the above normal rainfall, they have recently been seen further down the KZN North Coast.
He said the same happened 10 years ago when more rain than normal occurred.
Mckibbin explained that the pair of Eurasian oystercatchers were unlikely to breed here as they came to South Africa during their off season.
“We get breeding and non-breeding migrant birds visiting us. Migrant water birds, such as the Eurasian oystercatcher, are mostly non-breeding,” he said.
On the other hand, he said, cuckoos are breeding migrants. He mentioned an unusual phenomenon of migrant steppe or common buzzards, a sub-species from Russia that do not traditionally breed here but have recently started sticking around and breeding in the Western Cape.
Although not yet identified as a separate species, he said they have come to be known as mystery or Cape buzzards.
Seeing a Eurasian oystercatcher anywhere in South Africa is special since, according to the Roberts Bird Guide, fewer than 10 of them visit South Africa annually.
Also known as the pied oystercatcher or bonttobie in Afrikaans, they breed in the Palearctic realm (north of the Himalayas) and are rarely seen in Africa south of the Gulf of Guinea and Kenya. When they do visit our shores, they are usually seen on their own or with African oystercatchers.
There was great excitement among twitchers when a vagrant Eurasian oystercatcher was first noticed in Umdloti in 2020, attracting birders and photographers from far and wide.
Then another was seen last November, sending the Umdloti Conservancy community into a frenzy.
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