Black Oystercatcher (Haematopus bachmani)

Description:

Black Oystercatchers are large, heavyset shorebirds with a distinctive appearance: dark bodies, bright orange-red bills, yellow eyes with a surrounding orange ring, and pink legs. The feathers from the neck up are black, and the rest of the body is a dark brown. These monogamous birds are often found flying around in pairs, and during the breeding season, you can sometimes spot a mated pair incubating and raising chicks together. Their call is a very distinct, repetitive whistling sound—easily identifiable among other bird calls.

Habitat:

These birds are found all along the Pacific Coast of North America. At Haystack Rock, Black Oystercatchers are found on boulders and rocks covered in barnacles and mussels year-round.

Nesting:

At Haystack Rock, a Black Oystercatcher pair nests in the saddle on the beach-facing side of the rock every summer. The pair moves the rubble to create a “scrape” style nest. They lay 1 to 4 eggs, and both incubate the eggs for 24 to 29 days. Chicks are able to walk and leave the scrape almost immediately after hatching. The adults may take the chicks to the intertidal zone to learn to forage before the chicks learn to fly at 5 weeks. Fledglings have been known to stay with their parents for several months after they learn to fly.

Foraging:

Black Oystercatchers forage in the intertidal zone for aquatic invertebrates to eat, like mussels and limpets. They are incredibly important because they are indicators of tide pool health: if the aquatic invertebrates they feed on are struggling, then Black Oystercatchers will begin visibly struggling as well.

Tide Pool Tidbits:

• The Black Oystercatchers found in Oregon and up north in Alaska are completely black, but the farther down south one goes, the more they will see birds of this species with some white feathers and more brown abdomens.

• Black Oystercatchers can live more than 15 years.

• Their genus name Haematopus is derived from the Greek word for “blood-footed” in reference to their pink legs and feet. Their species name bachmani was created in honor of American Lutheran minister John Bachman.

Reference: The Cornell Lab, Audubon, NPS, Allaboutbirds, Seattleaquarium