American Oystercatchers virtually extinct in New England: Numbers increase 45% along US coast after 16 states invest $10 million in conservation World News

They are about the size of a football, have bright orange beaks, long legs, beady yellow eyes and can fly up to 2,000 miles. Although they can be found on U.S. beaches today, there was a time when American oystercatchers were wiped out from New England.By the turn of the 20th century, these birds were extinct in the area due to years of hunting and egg collection. But now, their numbers are increasing, all thanks to the efforts of conservationists. When new chicks are born, a team of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists run up behind them, measure their body measurements and clip straps to their legs.“There’s a problem. They can fly,” Alan Kneidel, a senior conservation biologist at the environmental group Manomet Conservation Science, told The Associated Press that he saw the group chasing two chicks on a beach in Rhode Island. The banding within the 787-acre Trustom Pond National Wildlife Refuge is part of a nationwide effort to restore oystercatcher populations along the U.S. coast.

Raise awareness and funds

Over the past decade, 35 coastal organizations in 16 states have raised about $10 million, all to protect the birds. Much of the campaign focuses on educating beachgoers about the existence of the oddball birds, known for their piercing calls and habit of cracking open oysters and mussels with their sharp beaks. We also take steps to protect their ground nesting sites from predators and pets on beaches, dunes, salt marshes or tidal debris deposits.A key part of conservation, Kneider revealed, is identifying “the survival of fledglings as the primary cause of declines.” Individually tailored plans were then developed by each group within the U.S. Oystercatcher Working Group, which is led by Shiloh Schulte of Manomet, a conservation biologist and field scientist who died in a helicopter crash in Alaska in 2025 while on a mission to protect shorebirds. His initial aerial surveys showed their numbers were down by double digits.Different websites have different reasons for decline. While recreational disturbance may be the cause at one site, predators may be the cause at another, and sea level rise and loss of dune structure may be others.Additionally, these birds benefit from federal protections for the piping plover, a threatened shorebird that nests in the same area. During piping plover nesting season, vehicles and dogs are restricted or prohibited near beach nesting sites. “With a little effort and attention to this really charismatic bird, you can teach the public how to share the coast,” said Luanne Johnson, a wildlife biologist who founded the nonprofit Biodiversity Works, one of the groups working on oystercatcher rehabilitation. When oystercatchers began to recover, the island was the first nesting site in Massachusetts, and the number of breeding pairs increased by 77 percent since 2009.In South Carolina, nearly 30 breeding colonies have been fenced off to protect nesting habitat. Georgia and North Carolina also rope off breeding colonies during the breeding season and trap and euthanize predators such as foxes, raccoons and coyotes.From 2008 to 2023, oystercatcher populations along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts increased by 45%. Their recovery is especially important given that a 2023 study found that most shorebird populations in North America are declining. “It’s amazing, it’s a great conservation success story,” said Maureen Durkin, a federal wildlife biologist who leads the banding effort and works at the Rhode Island National Wildlife Refuge.Ted Simons, a retired professor emeritus at North Carolina State University who began studying birds on North Carolina’s Outer Banks in 1995, said the birds’ recovery is a testament to the species’ resilience. He noted that American oystercatchers have been found nesting on rooftops in the United States and on pastures in Europe. He recalled that one pair was found nesting in a pothole at an Icelandic bus station. “It would be even harder if these were indeed highly specialized birds that required precise prescriptions for survival,” Simmons said. “But what we found is that these birds are incredibly adaptable.”

fight for the future

Despite the American Oystercatcher’s own resilience and human conservation efforts, threats to the American Oystercatcher remain. Chief among them is climate change, which is causing rising sea levels and erosion to wash away their nests. This has prompted states like Georgia to build elevated oyster shell nesting platforms for the birds and to use material dredged from waterways to build and maintain nesting islands. Along North Carolina’s Cape Fear River, Audubon is replenishing shell rakes—old oyster shell beds where oystercatchers nest.There are also concerns that changes to the Endangered Species Act this month could affect nesting sites, especially in places where state protections are weak. Environmental groups filed a lawsuit Tuesday to block the changes, which they fear could disrupt breeding colonies. The changes would allow oil and gas drilling, mining, logging and other development in important wildlife habitat as long as animals are not killed or injured. “This is a direct attack on the conservation efforts that have allowed many shorebird species to recover,” Knedel said.

Tags:

American OystercatcherBreeding habitat protectionconservation worknew englandOyster shell nesting platformPiping Plovershorebird recoveryTed SimmonsU.S. Fish and Wildlife Servicewildlife protection