How unusual is it for Oystercatchers to nest on buildings (U.K)? (1 Viewer)

[Andy Lakin]

Near where I work I have seen Oystercatchers copulating on the roof of a building a couple of times recently. There are large areas of flat roof to nest on if they choose to and some great feeding areas close by. I had a very quick search on Google and it mentioned the odd record in Scotland but it seems really infrequent I was wondering about the situation in England in particular.
Thanks
Andy.

 

[Richard D]

Near where I work I have seen Oystercatchers copulating on the roof of a building a couple of times recently. There are large areas of flat roof to nest on if they choose to and some great feeding areas close by. I had a very quick search on Google and it mentioned the odd record in Scotland but it seems really infrequent I was wondering about the situation in England in particular.
Thanks
Andy.

We had a pair nesting on the local brewery bottling hall last year (at least one successful chick).

 

[Mark Lew1s]

I can’t comment on the situation in England but it’s really common up here in Aberdeen - loads of roof nesting oystercatcher up here, so it’s probably not as unusual as your google search has suggested.

 

[Andy Lakin]

Thanks for the replies. I'm assuming the Scotland info was a while ago as I only read parts of the article cheers.

 

[Richard D]

I'll keep an eye on the brewery - there's been a pair of oystercatchers (possibly the same ones) on the creek (Faversham, Kent) a lot recently.

 

[Andy Lakin]

It seems that this is a great adaptation as the pair I mentioned have a vast area of short grass to feed on and waterbodies close by.

 

[Richard D]

It seems that this is a great adaptation as the pair I mentioned have a vast area of short grass to feed on and waterbodies close by.

My pair were on the brewery roof yesterday and feeding on the green next door this morning so I'm hopeful. The tidal creek runs in front of both so the habitat is pretty ideal.