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Oystercatcher is a name given to 11 species of large shorebirds of the family Haematopodidae.
Oystercatcher is a name given to 11 species of large shorebirds of the family Haematopodidae. Oystercatchers are either black and white or entirely black. Their orange-red bills are elongated and compressed from side to side, allowing the birds to chisel open clams and other molluscs.
Two species occur in North America: American oystercatchers (Haematopus palliatus) breed from Long Island south to Mexico (they are occasional visitors to Canada); black oystercatchers (H. bachmani) breed from the Aleutians south to Baja California (Mexico), where they hybridize with the American oystercatcher.
