First report of a hatched, hand-reared, and released African oystercatcher

The African oystercatcher Haematopus moquini is a near-threatened wader that is endemic to southern Africa. In the past, the species suffered a drastic decrease in nesting success due to human disturbance. We present the case report of an African oystercatcher that was hatched, hand-reared, and released in the Western Cape, South Africa. African oystercatchers are semi-altricial birds that tend to be highly sensitive to stress; as a result, strategies to minimize stress and the employment of surrogate parents and pre-release acclimatization are important to ensure post-release survival of hand-reared chicks. Considering the lack of literature on the incubation and hand-rearing of oystercatchers, this case report provides a basis for the development of hand-rearing techniques that might be useful for the protection of this and other threatened wader species.