Resightings of marked American Oystercatchers banded as chicks

摘要: Since 2000, we have been banding American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus) chicks at Cape Lookout and Cape Hatteras national seashores as part of a long-term demographic study. Between 2000 and 2002, we banded 23 chicks. We report on resightings of eight chicks that returned to the Outer Banks of North Carolina in the summers of 2003 and 2004. These are the first records of American Oystercatcher chicks resighted near their natal areas in their 2nd and 3rd years. The 3-year-old birds appeared to be paired and acted territorial, whereas the 2nd-year birds were observed alone or in groups and did not exhibit territorial behavior. Our observations suggest that the American Oystercatcher's life history is similar to that of the Eurasian Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus).