Birds Posters
Oystercatchers
The oystercatchers are a group of waders; they form the family Haematopodidae, which has a single genus, Haematopus.
They are found on coasts worldwide apart from the polar regions and some tropical regions of Africa and South East Asia.
The exception to this is the Eurasian Oystercatcher and the South Island Oystercatcher, both of which breed inland, far inland in some cases.
In the past there has been a great deal of confusion as to the species limits, with discrete populations of all
black oystercatchers being afforded specific status but pied oystercatchers being considered one single species.
The name oystercatcher was coined by Mark Catesby in 1731 as a common name for the North American species H. palliatus, described as eating oysters.
Yarrell in 1843 established this as the preferred term, replacing the older name Sea Pie.
The Black Oystercatcher can live for more that 15 years.
Although they do not swim, chicks will sometimes dive under water to avoid predators.
Migrating only short distances or not at all, they are permanent residents of their breeding range.
American Oystercatchers insert their long blade-like bills into mussels and other bivalves, severing the powerful adductor muscles before the shells can close.
Nesting adults will add broken shells or pebbles to the nests in order to disguise the speckled eggs.
Young nestlings can run within 24 hours of birth but their beaks are not strong enough to open bivalve shells until they are about 2 months old.
The South Island Pied Oystercatcher is endemic to New Zealand where it breeds inland on the South Island, after which most of the population moves to estuaries and harbours on the North Island.
It has been recorded occasionally as a vagrant on Norfolk Island, Lord Howe Island and the eastern coast of mainland Australia.
Its breeding habitat comprises braided river systems, open paddocks and cultivated land, lake beaches, subalpine tundra and herbfields.
Non-breeding habitat includes coastal estuaries, bays, beaches, sandflats and intertidal mudflats.
The Variable Oystercatcher is a species of wader in the Haematopodidae family. It is endemic to New Zealand.
The Maori name is torea-pango. They are also known as red bills.
The Canarian Black Oystercatcher or Canary Islands Oystercatcher, Haematopus meadewaldoi, was a shorebird endemic
to Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, and their offshore islets (Islote de Lobos and the Chinijo Archipelago) in the Canary Islands, Spain.