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Potential Eurasian Oystercatcher Split (1 Viewer)

Is osculans the one that turned up on Scilly a few years back? Or was this just considered an aberrant plumage bird?
 
I managed to get one during my summer in Japan, but I think I only saw a single bird.

think that shows mostly records in the non-breeding range. Equivalent map from birdlife attached,
cheers,
Jmes
The scarcity in Japan seems odd - would've thought the Kamchatka population would migrate south that way, but presumably they go north, then west, then south round the west side of the Sea of Okhotsk instead? :eek!:
 
Despite numerous trips over twenty odd years, I've never seen an Oystercatcher anywhere in Asia.
I saw 31 in summer in Gunsan, South Korea (so not on the island of Ganghwado!)
This used to be a good place for Spoon-billed Sandpiper, but that area was out of bounds for me anyway...
 
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The scarcity in Japan seems odd - would've thought the Kamchatka population would migrate south that way, but presumably they go north, then west, then south round the west side of the Sea of Okhotsk instead? :eek!:
Though having said that, maybe they just overfly Japan in a non-stop flight - that's actually more plausible, given what many waders are capable of. Should've thought of that before!
 
Though having said that, maybe they just overfly Japan in a non-stop flight - that's actually more plausible, given what many waders are capable of. Should've thought of that before!

or they just fly the most direct route across the sea and miss Japan entirely
 

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Even if a few years old, but maybe of interest (my blue) ...

Melville, D.S., Y. N. Gerasimov, N. Moores, Y. Yat-Tung & Q. Bai. 2014. Conservation assessment of Far Eastern Oystercatcher Haematopus [ostralegus] osculans. International Wader Studies 20: 129–154.

The Far Eastern Oystercatcher Haematopus [ostralegus] osculans is a little-known taxon, with an estimated total population of about 11,000 birds. The disjunctive breeding range extends along the west coast of the Kamchatkan Peninsula to Shelikov Bay at the head of the Sea of Okhotsk, and from the west and south coasts of the Korean Peninsula south to Fujian Province, China. During the summer a few birds occur from the Amur River delta south along the coasts of Khabarovsk and Primorsky regions, and inland in the central Amur region and northeast China, but few are thought to breed there. It is nowhere common. It winters mainly along the west coast of the Korean Peninsula and the coast of East China from southern Shandong Province to as far south as northern Guangdong Province. At present, the greatest number, possibly accounting for c. 50% of the total population, winter in South Korea at the Geum estuary, an area which was until 2007 threatened by large-scale reclamation. Northern Jiangsu and southern Shandong, China, support about 20% of the total winter population, but this area is threatened by extensive reclamation. The wintering populations of Taiwan and Japan declined in the late 1880s and early 1900s; the reasons for this are unknown. Current population trends are unknown, however the number wintering in Japan is increasing, although still small (c. 350), while habitat loss in the Yellow Sea, in both China and South Korea, has the potential to cause declines in the core of its range. There is an urgent need for an assessment of the taxonomic status of this form; an assessment of the population and trends in numbers and distribution. It is a candidate species for IUCN listing as ‘Near Threatened’ based on population size (<10,000 mature individuals), and the rapid loss of habitat in the main wintering areas.

[here]​

Also see Table 8. Asian Waterfowl Census counts of Far Eastern Oystercatcher ... (on p.136), covering 1994 up until 2007.
 
Even if a few years old, but maybe of interest (my blue) ...

Melville, D.S., Y. N. Gerasimov, N. Moores, Y. Yat-Tung & Q. Bai. 2014. Conservation assessment of Far Eastern Oystercatcher Haematopus [ostralegus] osculans. International Wader Studies 20: 129–154.

Also see Table 8. Asian Waterfowl Census counts of Far Eastern Oystercatcher ... (on p.136), covering 1994 up until 2007.
Online here - interesting article, thanks! :t:
 
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