It has a stout chisel-shaped bill it uses to open mussels and other bivalves, either hammering them or slipping the bill between half-open shells.
From Eurasian Oystercatcher
Despite its name, oysters are not an important part of its diet, though it is among the very few birds able to open their shells.
From Eurasian Oystercatcher
It is the most widely distributed oystercatcher in the world.
From Eurasian Oystercatcher
Its epithet palliatus means "wrapped in a cloak", from the contrast between the brown back and the rest of the plumage.
From American Oystercatcher
It feeds at low tide and rests at high tide: its day is set by the sea, not by the sun.
From American Oystercatcher
It hybridises with the South American blackish oystercatcher and with the North American black oystercatcher where their ranges overlap, and those hybrids are recorded as taxa in their own right in the databases.
From American Oystercatcher
Its scientific name honours Alfred Moquin-Tandon, the French naturalist who found and named the species before Bonaparte, who ended up signing the valid description.
From African Oystercatcher
It is one of very few seabirds in southern Africa that breeds on the mainland and not only on islands.
From African Oystercatcher

Ecosystems