The return of a bird presumed dead

Wednesday, May 11th, 2011

Species: Oystercatcher

Project: Food exploitation in wintering Oystercatchers

Oystercatchers breeding on the saltmarsh of Schiermonnikoog spend the winter on the nearby mudflats and regularly return to roost on the island. Only during very severe winters, when the mudflats freeze over, do some birds leave the area and migrate south, in search of better feeding conditions. Thus, when we lost contact with bird #365 already on 31 August 2010, we presumed the bird had died, or the transmitter had stopped working. To our great surprise, the bird returned on 11 March 2011 and appeared to have spent the winter in the Dutch Wadden Sea, but more to the west, south of the island of Terschelling.