If it is any consolation, based on the spilled contents of that egg, the egg was infertile and never going to hatch. If the egg was due to hatch that day or anytime soon, it should have been mostly filled with a developed embryo with little to no yolk left to spill.
Michael R. Wasilco Regional Wildlife Manager, Division of Fish and Wildlife New York State Department of Environmental Conservation 6274 E. Avon-Lima Rd., Avon, NY 14414 P: (585)226-5460 | F: (585) 226-6323 | mike.wasi...@dec.ny.gov www.dec.ny.gov | | -----Original Message----- From: bounce-126667299-73379...@list.cornell.edu <bounce-126667299-73379...@list.cornell.edu> On Behalf Of Gus Keri Sent: Sunday, July 10, 2022 2:01 PM To: Birding alert, NYSBirds, Birding alert <nysbirds-l@cornell.edu> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Do Oystercatchers mourn or memorialize their losses. ATTENTION: This email came from an external source. Do not open attachments or click on links from unknown senders or unexpected emails. As some of you know, I have been following two Oystercatcher nests on Brooklyn beaches this season, one in Plumb Beach and the other in Dead Horse Point. Both nests produced two chicks each and lost the third egg to predation. In Plumb Beach, the two parents abandoned the third egg because they were busy taking care of two chicks which require a lot of attention. The third egg stayed unprotected in the nest for almost two weeks before it disappeared, most likely to a predator. No evidence of the egg was seen. But in Dead Horse Point, a strange thing happened, I couldn't believe my eyes. The third egg was supposed to hatch yesterday, after the first two hatched in the previous two days. But today, I only managed to see two chicks alive. The Whole family was foraging some 500 feet away from the nest location. I decided to check the nest location to see if I can see any evidence of an egg or a chick sitting on the ground. And to my surprise, one of the parents flew all the way and landed near me, making all kind of noise. Initially, I thought, the third chick is alive, and the parent is protecting it. But instead, I found the third egg completely destroyed and the content is spilling out of the broken eggshell. The egg was few inches away from the nest location, which suggests it was eaten by a bird, not a land animal, like a raccoon which usually take the egg away and they are in abundance here. I have seen many shorebird nests over the years, and I always see the eggs disappeared without any trace. This is the first time I see a remnant of a destroyed egg. Usually, the Oystercatcher move on after losing their eggs. But this time, and for the first time, I see a parent staying close to the egg, making all kind of noise. This gave me the impression that the parent, either doesn't think that the chick is dead, and hope that it will come out somehow, or it was mourning or memorializing its loss. it kept doing this until I left the nest area and then it went back to its family. It was a heartbreaking scene that left me in sadness for the next few hours. I wonder if anyone has any knowledge that Oystercatcher do mourn or memorialize their losses. Here are photos of the chicks, parents and the destroyed egg: https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Febird.org%2Fatlasny%2Fchecklist%2FS114802557&data=05%7C01%7Cmike.wasilco%40dec.ny.gov%7C1e8c8a4345e24656fe3108da62a1c026%7Cf46cb8ea79004d108ceb80e8c1c81ee7%7C0%7C0%7C637930744095698648%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=HVjNttdvkdMg23M8AGPcqRkVpmKzt7MsHD%2B8aBKmMPM%3D&reserved=0 Gus Keri -- NYSbirds-L List Info: https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.northeastbirding.com%2FNYSbirdsWELCOME.htm&data=05%7C01%7Cmike.wasilco%40dec.ny.gov%7C1e8c8a4345e24656fe3108da62a1c026%7Cf46cb8ea79004d108ceb80e8c1c81ee7%7C0%7C0%7C637930744095698648%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=OMHE70e2Iz0XyqvadnlBEbjtOBz9NMDs9QTvCxeLcLY%3D&reserved=0 https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.northeastbirding.com%2FNYSbirdsRULES.htm&data=05%7C01%7Cmike.wasilco%40dec.ny.gov%7C1e8c8a4345e24656fe3108da62a1c026%7Cf46cb8ea79004d108ceb80e8c1c81ee7%7C0%7C0%7C637930744095698648%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=rsIliPKgCFLvwAMdFg7J8KmIA0YZ0knDtpUYL8b8nFs%3D&reserved=0 https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.northeastbirding.com%2FNYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm&data=05%7C01%7Cmike.wasilco%40dec.ny.gov%7C1e8c8a4345e24656fe3108da62a1c026%7Cf46cb8ea79004d108ceb80e8c1c81ee7%7C0%7C0%7C637930744095698648%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=N4QFVnfDeVz8ptQgTrmXs3t03s%2BX%2Fbx%2BReew%2FDEfmmA%3D&reserved=0 ARCHIVES: 1) https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mail-archive.com%2Fnysbirds-l%40cornell.edu%2Fmaillist.html&data=05%7C01%7Cmike.wasilco%40dec.ny.gov%7C1e8c8a4345e24656fe3108da62a1c026%7Cf46cb8ea79004d108ceb80e8c1c81ee7%7C0%7C0%7C637930744095698648%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Dr%2B6j3E%2B8J%2FpszwaChKnFkMntvwv%2FqVybFypCRVUGXY%3D&reserved=0 2) https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.surfbirds.com%2Fbirdingmail%2FGroup%2FNYSBirds-L&data=05%7C01%7Cmike.wasilco%40dec.ny.gov%7C1e8c8a4345e24656fe3108da62a1c026%7Cf46cb8ea79004d108ceb80e8c1c81ee7%7C0%7C0%7C637930744095698648%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=hzhnE%2FfTct%2FWZ2TBJoCX4btJtx8TBulA%2Fatba22v0r4%3D&reserved=0 3) https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fbirding.aba.org%2Fmaillist%2FNY01&data=05%7C01%7Cmike.wasilco%40dec.ny.gov%7C1e8c8a4345e24656fe3108da62a1c026%7Cf46cb8ea79004d108ceb80e8c1c81ee7%7C0%7C0%7C637930744095698648%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=%2FHAwV9WqBYDwG9ecH0bl9y7GztJhshaFpDsvv6o%2FGGU%3D&reserved=0 Please submit your observations to eBird: https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Febird.org%2Fcontent%2Febird%2F&data=05%7C01%7Cmike.wasilco%40dec.ny.gov%7C1e8c8a4345e24656fe3108da62a1c026%7Cf46cb8ea79004d108ceb80e8c1c81ee7%7C0%7C0%7C637930744095698648%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=u%2BVjgRFvQ60bCpYc229WjMe3FlbNfZu6b6Uguv1RY70%3D&reserved=0 -- -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
