Birds · Charadriiformes · Haematopodidae

American Oystercatcher

Haematopus palliatus

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary

An oystercatcher with a black head and neck and a dark brown, not black, mantle, which is what tells it apart from the Magellanic oystercatcher. The eyes are yellow with a red rim. The breast is white, with a white wedge separating the dark breast from the edge of the folded wing. In flight it shows a white band on the secondaries. The legs are pale pink.

Weight

565 g on average

Size

40 cm – 44 cm

Lifespan

10 years

Diet

Carnivore

Feeds mainly on other animals.

Activity

Diurnal

Active mainly during the day.

Social structure

In pairs

Usually lives in pairs, sometimes for life.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

OceanCarnivore Diurnal In pairs Bird Ocean

43countries 22parks4same family

Fun facts

Its epithet palliatus means "wrapped in a cloak", from the contrast between the brown back and the rest of the plumage.
It feeds at low tide and rests at high tide: its day is set by the sea, not by the sun.
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.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)
Habitat & environment: Sandy and muddy beaches of the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, from New England and Florida to South America
Birth weight: Precocial: born covered in down and leaves the nest within a few hours
Size at birth: Precocial: born covered in down and leaves the nest within a few hours
Sexual maturity: 3 years
Gestation / incubation: 27 days
Litter / clutch size: 2

Sources consulted: IUCN Red List; Wikipedia (Haematopus palliatus); SIB - Parques Nacionales de Argentina; EncicloVida (CONABIO, México); Bernis et al. 1996, Ardeola (nombres SEO); Temminck 1820