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Eurasian Oystercatcher

Eurasian Oystercatcher

Haematopus ostralegus

Identify the Eurasian Oystercatcher by sound or photo and log your sightings with Birdpass.

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The Eurasian Oystercatcher is a bold black-and-white shorebird with a long, straight orange-red bill, red eye and pink legs. The most widespread oystercatcher, it breeds from western Europe across Eurosiberia to East Asia and is a familiar, noisy bird of coasts and estuaries, and in places inland shores and even flat roofs. Outside the breeding season it is highly gregarious, and many populations migrate to milder coasts in winter.

Did you know?

  • Despite its name oysters make up only a small part of its diet, yet few other waders can open them at all.
  • A ringed oystercatcher was recaptured 43 years after ringing, making it at least 46 years old.

Voice

Song
Call

About the species

Identification

A clearly black-and-white wader: black head, back and breast, white belly and bold white wing bars and rump in flight. The straight, strong orange-red bill and red legs are conspicuous; young birds have a brownish back and a dark bill tip. Its shrill, far-carrying call is a typical “kleep”.

Family

Haematopodidae

Size

Large (crow)

Colours

black, white, orange, red

About the habitat

Coasts, rocky islets, sandy beaches, estuaries and tidal flats; also lake and river shores, gravel islands and fields near water. In some towns it nests on flat roofs.

Diet

Mainly mussels and other bivalves, as well as earthworms, insect larvae and small crustaceans. Birds with blunt bills hammer or prise open shells, while those with pointed bills probe for worms; individuals often specialise in the technique learned from their parents.

Behaviour

Loud and conspicuous, often in pairs or small groups. Pairs often stay together for years and nest in a simple scrape on shingle, rocks or gravel. Both parents incubate and, unusually among waders, feed their chicks. They defend the nest with loud piping, distraction displays and attacks on predators. Outside the breeding season they form large flocks.

Sources

Photo: Andreas Trepte, CC BY-SA 2.5 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Haematopus ostralegus He.jpg

Sound: Olivier Grimm, XC561038, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://xeno-canto.org/561038

Sound: Sonothèque ADVL, XC730816, CC0 1.0 https://xeno-canto.org/730816

Text: Wikipedia (English) + FinBIF species descriptions + Wikipedia (Finnish), CC BY-SA 4.0; FinBIF: CC BY 4.0; Wikipedia: CC BY-SA 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_oystercatcher

See also