Eurasian oystercatcher

Facts

IUCN LEAST CONCERN (LC)

Facts about this animal

The Eurasian oystercatcher is a sturdily built wader with a total length of 40 to 47 cm nd a body-weight of 425 to 820 g. It is characterized by a bold pied pattern: it has a black head and upper side, and is white underneath. The long bill is bright red and it has pink legs. The sexes are alike in appearance, but males have a blunter, shorter and more robust bill than the females.

The nest is a shallow scrape in sand or among shells, sometimes the eggs are laid on bare rock. A clutch consists usually of 2 eggs, which are incubated for 27 to 39 days. The chicks are cryptically coloured, grey with black dorsal and femoral stripes. They fledge at the age of 35-40 days.

Eurasian oystercatchers feed on mussels, crabs, earth worms and all kind of other invertebrates, rarely on fish.

Did you know?
that despite the name, oysters do not form a large part of its diet, but few if any other wading birds are capable of opening oysters at all? Oystercatcher prefer mussels, cockles, worms, limpets and crabs.

Factsheet
Class	AVES
Order	CHARADRIIFORMES
Suborder	CHARADRII
Family	HAEMATOPODIDAE
Name (Scientific)	Haematopus ostralegus
Name (English)	Eurasian oystercatcher
Name (French)	Huîtrier pie
Name (German)	Austernfischer
Name (Spanish)	Ostrero
Local names	Afrikaans: Bont oestervanger Danish: Strandskade Dutch: Scholekster Finnish: Meriharakka Hungarian: Csigaforgató Italian: Beccaccia di mare Romansh: Austrel Norwegian: Tjeld Polish: Ostrygojad Swedish: Strandskata
CITES Status	Not listed
CMS Status	Not listed

Photo Copyright by
Bjørn Christian Tørrissen

Distribution

Distribution
Range	Asia: Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, China, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, , Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea DPR, Korea Rep., Kuwait, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Yemen. Vagrants in Jordan, Lebanon, Maldives, Philippines, Syria, Africa: Algeria, Cape Verde, , Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Gambia, Ghana, , Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Western Sahara. Vagrants in Angola, Congo DR, Ethiopia, Gabon, Liberia, Mali, Seychelles, Togo, Uganda Europe: Albania, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark Estonia, Faeroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia former Yug. Rep., Malta, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Svalbard and Jan Mayen, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom. Vagrants in Luxembourg, Slovenia, North America: Canada, United States
Habitat	Sandy sites on islands, spits and big rivers, sea coasts and estuaries.
Wild population	The global population is estimated to be between 1,100,000–1,200,000 individuals (IUCN)
Zoo population	113 reported to ISIS (2007)

In the Zoo

How this animal should be transported

For air transport, Container Note 13 of the IATA Live Animals Regulations should be followed.

Find this animal on ZooLex

Photo Copyright by
John Haslam

Why do zoos keep this animal

Eurasian oystercatchers are not a threatened species. Zoos keep them for educational purposes and as an ambassador species for marine and coastal conservation.

How this animal should be kept

Minimum size of an aviary for eight waders is 12 m², 2.5 m high. The aviary should be enlarged by 1 m² per additional adult bird. Oystercatchers, however, are quite territorial during the breeding season and not more than a pair could be kept in a smaller aviary. The aviary must contain a very shallow pool favourably with a sandy or muddy floor to allow foraging behaviour, roosting and bathing.

It is possible to successfully keep oystercatchers in mixed-species wader exhibits, some laid out as walk-through exhibits.

A soft netting on the ceiling is ideal. Nylon netting with small meshes (ca. 2 cm) is well suited to prevent harmful accidents with skull or wing damage; small meshes prevent accidentally hanging.

In colder climatic zones, an indoor room with a temperature of about 5° to 10° C should be provided to allow permanent access to water and food in winter. The birds should have access to outside enclosures also in winter.

A softbill-mixture enriched with small amounts of meat, shrimp can be used as a basic food.