Record-breaking 41-year-old oystercatcher found at RSPB Snettisham

Two of the oldest oystercatchers in the UK have been discovered weeks apart from each other - setting a new record.

The first of the birds, aged 41 and eight months, was found at RSPB Snettisham back in February by a team of volunteer bird recorders and surveyors from the Wash Wader Research Group (WWRG)

At the time, it was considered to be a UK record.

Now it has been broken, as just weeks later the same group came across another of the same species at The Wash, which was determined to be 43 years old.

Prior to the discoveries, the oldest known oystercatcher was 41 and five months, with the average lifespan of the bird being 12 years.

Jacquie Clark from the WWRG, said: “It was amazing to find the first oystercatcher and confirm it was the UK’s oldest, but we’re even more stunned that it’s all happened again within just a few weeks.

“To find an even older bird on The Wash is astounding, it just shows how crucial this huge coastal wetland is for these birds.”

Further investigations showed the first had been ringed as a chick by well-known Norfolk ornithologist Moss Taylor in Weybourne in 1983.

The second bird is thought to have been at least three years old when originally ringed in 1982, making it at least 46.

“Both birds have probably spent every winter here since they were ringed,” Jacquie added.

“We know from our long-term ringing studies that oystercatchers, and many other species of wading birds, are very site faithful.

“Once they find a good wintering site, with good feeding and safe places to roost, they’ll just keep coming back year on year.”

Oystercatchers can be seen on most UK coasts and are recognisable by their distinctive black and white plumage, vibrant orange bill and red legs.

"The Wash is the single most important coastal wetland in the UK for migrating and over-wintering wading birds, ducks and geese, supporting up to 400,000 waterbirds each year,” said Jim Scott, the RSPB estate operations manager for Titchwell Marsh and Snettisham.

“Up to 26,000 of these are oystercatchers, making The Wash a site of international importance for this species, as it is for many others.

“The records of these two birds illustrate just how important it is to protect England’s East Coast Wetlands.

“Like so many wading birds that repeatedly spend the autumn and winter here, oystercatchers rely on The Wash mudflats for food as they are jam-packed with invertebrates such as ragworms, snails and shellfish, so, in some ways, it’s not really a surprise that these two record- breaking oystercatchers choose to spend every winter here.”

The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) confirmed the records of both oystercatchers using ringing, which has been used as a scientific technique to monitor wild bird populations for more than 100 years.