Scholeksters Haematopus ostralegus als pleegouders van kievitkuikens Vanellus vanellus

On 7 June 2009 an Oystercatcher was observed warming three few days old Lapwing chicks on a potato field. A second Oystercatcher was guarding at a distance of 20 m. On 10 June the pair was still present on the same field, in company of the three young Lapwings. When the observer approached the family, both Oystercatchers alarmed and one faked wing injury. On 15 June the situation was much the same, but on 17 June a farmer worked in the potato field, followed by five Carrion Crows Corvus corone. One nervous Oystercatcher attempted, in vain, tot chase the crows. On 19 June the pair of Oystercatchers foraged on an adjacent meadow, no trace of the young Lapwings. It is not known whether the young were killed during the farmers work or by the crows, or whether the Oystercatchers adopted a Lapwing clutch or freshly hatched chicks.