Hello, American Oystercatcher! - Birds of Beaufort NC

Always a pleasure to watch, the American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus), is boldly colored, conspicuous on a pale sandy beach, and easy to identify. If that’s not enough, it’s also large in size and spends chunks of time just standing still, as if posing for the camera.

The feature of the oystercatcher that first catches your attention is of course that distinctive long, bright red-orange bill. What’s striking is the contrast of the red with the dark plumage on most of the upper body and the white on the underside. Note how the tip of the bill is yellowish and seems to glow…

The oystercatcher is also endowed with stunning yellow eyes, ringed in bright red. Males and females have the same basic coloration, except for an extra “fleck” of dark coloration in the eyes of the female (below).

And as a final touch, this species has long legs that are delicate pink in color…

Juvenile oystercatchers take about two years to mature, but are easy to spot. They are slightly duller versions of their parents. The juvenile is standing in the forefront below…

Note the juvenile’s grayish bill, lacking the yellow tip, brownish eyes, no eye rings, and grayish legs…

Below is an oystercatcher wearing a pair of bracelets! It was captured and banded in order to track its movements during the year. Made of plastic and color-coded to indicate banding location, bands that are bright green with white lettering represent capture in North Carolina.

American Oystercatchers tend to gather in large flocks prior to migration. Some portion of the population heads south along the coast, stopping to winter somewhere between South Carolina and Florida. Although some oystercatchers remain here in winter, those that migrate leave as early as August, then return after six months to begin breeding.

While here in the spring and summer, oystercatchers rarely venture inland from the coast. Their life is restricted to marine habitats due to a specialized diet of saltwater organisms only. They seek out mudflats, salt marshes, and sandy beaches, feeding in the intertidal mudflats or sandflats or on shellfish beds. Below is an oystercatcher walking along the sandy beach, poking that long bill into the wet sand in search of a clam…

True to its name, oystercatchers often forage for oysters while the oysters are still submerged. They eat other bivalves too, like clams and mussels, as well as snails, worms, barnacles, fiddler crabs or other marine invertebrate.

That bright red bill is specially adapted for prying open bivalves. The tip is slightly flattened like a blade, enabling it to slip into the narrow opening of an oyster or clam and snap the muscle that holds the two halves together.