Risky Beachfront Property

Risky Beachfront Property

- Mark Brown

Most of us would love to have a beachfront property. What beats a sea view, the sound of waves crashing at night, the smell of fresh sea air? It sounds idyllic! Well, if you are an African Black Oystercatcher or a White-fronted Plover, you get to live out your dreams… Prime beach real estate doesn’t come better than this, except that you have to share it with dogs and people. That sounds reasonable, but if you are an obsessive compulsive, neurotic conspiracy theorist, which most oystercatchers are, you have a problem.

Oystercatchers and plovers have evolved a very specific approach to breeding, relying on cryptic behaviour and camouflage to nest successfully on beaches. The birds’ natural predators while they are breeding there would include many furry, four-legged mammals, such as mongoose, genet, otter, jackal and caracal, and a few avian predators, for instance gulls, crows and ravens.