Jeremy writes of being sceptical. I would think fishing line/rubbish explanation is likely. I take Mike’s comment to refer to describing that other causes also exist. About the clams, I wonder how quick they can shut, is the damage done rapidly by injury on the immediate closing or is it by staying on the foot for a long time, presumably causing gangrene, and if the latter, why would the clams do that and not just release and fall off after a short time? I too have seen Oystercatchers (and gulls) missing their toes and quite “happy” Pied Oystercatchers with leg bands.
Philip
Comments
One response to “Short Pied Oystercatcher”
Well said Greg, I couldn’t agree with you more….
It’s very frustrating to hear banding & other imperative research getting such negative wraps on here…
Perhaps next time a twitcher with a penchant against banding/flagging birds requests further information (aka RFI’s…) on here on where to locate certain species, they may pause to consider how much information has been collected by valuable field research, such as banding, which has helped us understand much about our birdlife’s habits, movements, & indeed, where our birds can likely be located….
The data derived from such field research & observation is sometimes, I believe, taken for granted…
Cheers, Martin Cachard Cairns 0428 782 808
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