Eurasian Oystercatcher
Haematopus ostralegus
Common, conspicuous, and often noisy large wader (shorebird) of varied coastal habitats, especially beaches and mudflats; also nearby fields and locally inland. Winter flocks number locally in hundreds. Probes in mud and uses its bill to pry open shellfish (mainly mussels and cockles, not oysters). Distinctive, with boldly pied plumage, long bright orange-red bill, thick pinkish legs. In flight shows broad white wing stripe, white rump and tail with broad black tail tip.
Identification
The oystercatcher is one of the largest waders in the region. It is 40–45 cm (16–18 in) long, the bill accounting for .mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);clip-path:polygon(0px 0px,0px 0px,0px 0px);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}8–9 cm (3–3+1⁄2 in), and has a wingspan of 80–85 cm (31–33 in). It is an obvious and noisy plover-like bird, with black and white plumage, pink legs and a strong broad red bill used for smashing or prising open molluscs such as mussels or for finding earthworms. The sexes are similar in plumage but the female has a longer bill than the male. Despite its name, oysters do not form a large part of its diet. The bird still lives up to its name, as few if any other wading birds are capable of opening oysters.<p>This oystercatcher is unmistakable in flight, with white patches on the wings and tail, otherwise black upperparts, and white underparts. Young birds are more brown, have a white neck collar and a duller bill. The call is a distinctive loud piping.<p>The bill shape varies; oystercatchers with broad bill tips open molluscs by prising them apart or hammering through the shell, whereas pointed-bill birds dig up worms. Much of this is due to the wear resulting from feeding on the prey. Individual birds specialise in one technique or the other which they learn from their parents. It shows clinal variation with an increase from west to east. The subspecies longipes has distinctly brownish upperparts and the nasal groove extends more than halfway along the bill. In the subspecies ostralegus the nasal groove stops short of the half-way mark. The osculans subspecies lacks white on the shafts of the outer 2–3 primaries and has no white on the outer webs of the outer five primaries.<p>The American oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus) differs from the Eurasian oystercatcher in having a yellow eye and blackish-brown rather than black dorsal plumage.
Taxonomy
The Eurasian oystercatcher was listed by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Haemotopus ostralegus. The genus name Haematopus combines the Ancient Greek haima αἳμα meaning "blood" and pous πούς meaning "foot". The specific epithet ostralegus combines the Latin ostrea meaning "oyster" and legere meaning "to gather".<p>The name "oyster catcher" was coined by Mark Catesby in 1731 as a common name for the North American species H. palliatus, described as eating oysters. William Yarrell in 1843 established this as the preferred term, replacing the older name sea pie.<p>Four subspecies are recognised:<p>The extinct Canary Islands oystercatcher (Haematopus meadewaldoi), usually considered as distinct species, may have actually been an isolated subspecies or distinct population of the Eurasian oystercatcher.
- Scientific name
- Haematopus ostralegus
- Authority
- Linnaeus, 1758
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Haematopodidae
- Genus
- Haematopus
Range and habitat
The oystercatcher is a migratory species over most of its range. The European population breeds mainly in northern Europe, but in winter the birds can be found in north Africa and southern parts of Europe. Although the species is present all year in Ireland, Great Britain and the adjacent European coasts, there is still migratory movement: the large flocks that are found in the estuaries of south-west England in winter mainly breed in northern England or Scotland. Similar movements are shown by the Asian populations. The birds are highly gregarious outside the breeding season.
- Breeding range
- PAL : nw, sw, c Palearctic; far ne Palearctic
- Non-breeding range
- coastal AF, OR
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Bird Calls
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