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CoastalLarge · 555 g
ID tip
The black oystercatcher is a large shorebird, with a black head, neck and breast and dark brown body, a long (9 cm (3.5 in)) bright red/orange bill and pink legs. It has a bright yellow iris and a red eye-ring. Its plumage varies slightly from north to south, being darker further north.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
When to see the Black Oystercatcher
One bar for each month, and every month is filled: this bird is recorded here in all twelve. The wide bar is September, the month with the most records.
Where to see the Black Oystercatcher
The map shades 3 countries with regular records, and 2 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.
Recorded as a rare visitor in Peru, Puerto Rico.
About the Black Oystercatcher
The black oystercatcher is a conspicuous black bird found on the shoreline of western North America, ranging from the Aleutian Islands of Alaska to the coast of the Baja California peninsula.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Easily confused with
Pied OystercatcherHaematopus longirostrisThe name "oystercatcher" is something of a misnomer for this species, because they seldom eat oysters, which are found mainly on rocky coastlines.
Variable OystercatcherHaematopus unicolor"Variable" refers to the frontal plumage, which ranges from pied through mottled to all black.
American OystercatcherHaematopus palliatusThe American oystercatcher has distinctive black and white plumage and a long, bright orange beak.
Side by side: Black Oystercatcher vs Eurasian Oystercatcher · American Oystercatcher vs Black Oystercatcher · Black Oystercatcher vs Pied Oystercatcher · Black Oystercatcher vs Variable Oystercatcher
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