Double brooding is a common breeding strategy in many small species of birds but is less common in large species and has never been documented in American Oystercatchers. In the 2022 breeding season, we documented a banded pair of American Oystercatchers double brooding in West Galveston Bay, Galveston County, Texas. They fledged a chick from a nest on April 14 and a second chick from a second nest on August 10. Both chicks survived at least through mid-September, the end of our monitoring season. Double brooding in a territorial species such as American Oystercatcher could be an important breeding strategy for maintaining or increasing population numbers since nesting habitat is limited. Future studies should ensure they are considering this possibility when planning the extent of their survey season for nesting American Oystercatchers.
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10 May 2024
First Case of Double Brooding in American Oystercatchers (Haematopus palliatus) in North America
Susan A. Heath,
Alan G. Wilde,
Taylor M. Bennett
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Waterbirds
Vol. 46 • No. 2-4
June 2023
Vol. 46 • No. 2-4
June 2023
American Oystercatcher
breeding
double brooding
Haematopus palliatus
Texas