Eurasian Oystercatcher

Eurasian Oystercatcher
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Charadriiformes
Family:	Haematopodidae
Genus:	Haematopus
Species:	H. ostralegus
Binomial name
Haematopus ostralegus Linnaeus, 1758
Eurasian Oystercatcher range. Yellow = summer only, blue = winter only, green = all-year resident.

The Eurasian Oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus, also known as the Common Pied Oystercatcher, or (in Europe) just Oystercatcher, is a wader in the oystercatcher bird family Haematopodidae. It is the most widespread of the oystercatchers, with three races breeding in western Europe, central Eurasia, Kamchatka, China, and Western coast of Korea. No other oystercatcher occurs within this area.

This oystercatcher is the national bird of the Faroe Islands, where it is called tjaldur.

Description

H. o. ostralegus at the Norwegian bird-island Runde

H. o. ostralegus group at a high tide roost St Mary's Island, Tyne and Wear (England)

The Oystercatcher is one of the largest waders in the region. It is 40–45 centimetres (16–18 in) long (bill 8–9 cm) with a wing-span 80–85 centimetres (31–33 in).^[1] They are obvious and noisy plover-like birds, with black and white plumage, red legs and strong broad red bills used for smashing or prising open molluscs such as mussels or for finding earthworms.^[1] 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 at all.

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.

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.^[1]

Subspecies

H. o. ostralegus nesting, Dornoch (Scotland)

There are three subspecies: the nominate ostralegus found in Europe and the coasts of eastern Europe, longipes from Central Asia and Russia, and osculans found from Kamchatka in the Russian Far East and northern parts of China.

Bill length shows clinal variation with an increase from west to east. The subspecies longipes has distinctly brownish upperparts and the nasal groove extends more than half-way 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.^[2]

Ecology

H. o. ostralegus parent with chick, Dornoch (Scotland)

Parent on right and juvenile on left on a small beach in Helsinki, Finland in June

Flying in the Faroe Islands

This 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.

The nest is a bare scrape on pebbles, on the coast or on inland gravelly islands. 2-4 eggs are laid. Both eggs and chicks are highly cryptic.

Because of its large numbers and readily identified behaviour, the Oystercatcher is an important indicator species for the health of the ecosystems where it congregates. Extensive long-term studies have been carried out on its foraging behaviour, in northern Germany, in the Netherlands and particularly on the River Exe estuary in south-west England. These studies form an important part of the foundation for the modern discipline of behavioural ecology.

Etymology

The scientific name Haematopus ostralegus comes from the Greek haima αἳμα blood, pous πούς foot and Latin ostrea oyster and legere to collect or pick.^[3]

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.^[4] Yarrell in 1843 established this as the preferred term, replacing the older name Sea Pie.^[4]

Footnotes

1. ^ ^{a b c} The Birds of the Western Palearctic [Abridged]. OUP. 1997. ISBN 019854099X. 
2. ^ Hayman et al., 1986
3. ^ Jobling, James A (1991). A Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. OUP. ISBN 0 19 854634 3. 
4. ^ ^{a b} Lockwood, W B (1993). The Oxford Dictionary of British Bird Names. OUP. ISBN 978-0198661962. 

References

• BirdLife International (2004). Haematopus ostralegus. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
• Hayman, Peter, John Marchant & Tony Prater. 1986. Shorebirds: An Identification Guide to the Waders of the World. Croom Helm, London.

External links

• Eurasian Oystercatcher videos, photos & sounds on the Internet Bird Collection
• Oystercatcher WEBCAM live from the roof of the University of Bergen