Oystercatcher

The Oystercatchers are a group of waders in the family Haematopodidae . They are large obvious and noisy plover-like birds, with strong flattened bills used for smashing or prising open molluscs.

They are found on coasts worldwide apart from the polar regions. They are all-black, black and white or brown and white in appearance.

Their eggs are laid in a shallow scrape on shingle.

The species are

• Western Black Oystercatcher[?] H. bachmani

• American Pied Oystercatcher[?] H. palliatus
• Common Pied Oystercatcher[?] H. ostralegus
• Canarian Black Oystercatcher[?] H. meadewaldoi
• African Black Oystercatcher[?] H. moquini
• Variable Oystercatcher[?] H. unicolor
• Magellanic Oystercatcher[?] H. leucopodus
• Sooty Oystercatcher[?] H. fuliginosus
• Blackish Oystercatcher[?] H. ater
• Chatham Islands Oystercatcher[?] H. chathamensis