Eurasian oystercatcher
Eurasian oystercatcher | |
---|---|
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Charadriiformes |
Family: | Haematopodidae |
Genus: | Haematopus |
Species: | H. ostralegus
|
Binomial name | |
Haematopus ostralegus | |
Range of H. ostralegus Breeding range Year-round range Wintering range
|
The Eurasian oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus) also known as the common pied oystercatcher, or (in
It is the most widespread of the oystercatchers, with three races breeding in western
Taxonomy
The Eurasian oystercatcher was listed by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Haemotopus ostralegus.[2] The genus name Haematopus combines the Ancient Greek haima αἳμα meaning "blood" and pous πούς meaning "foot". The specific epithet ostralegus combines the Latin ostrea meaning "oyster" and legere meaning "to gather".[3]
The name "oyster catcher" was coined by Mark Catesby in 1731 as a common name for the North American species H. palliatus, described as eating oysters.[4][5] William Yarrell in 1843 established this as the preferred term, replacing the older name Sea Pie.[6][5]
Four subspecies are recognised:[7]
- H. o. ostralegus Linnaeus, 1758 – breeds Iceland to Scandinavia and south Europe, winters in west Africa
- H. o. longipes Buturlin, 1910 – breeds Ukraine and Turkey to central Russia and west Siberia, winters in east Africa
- H. o. buturlini Dementiev, 1941 – breeds west Kazakhstan to northwest China, winters in southwest Asia and India
- H. o. osculans Korean Peninsula, and northeast China, winters in east China
The extinct Canary Islands oystercatcher (Haematopus meadewaldoi), usually considered as distinct species, may have actually been an isolated subspecies or distinct population of the Eurasian oystercatcher.[8][9]
Description
The oystercatcher is one of the largest
This oystercatcher is unmistakable in flight, with white patches on the wings and tail, otherwise black upperparts, and white underparts. Young birds are more brown, have a white neck collar and a duller bill. The call is a distinctive loud piping.
The bill shape varies; oystercatchers with broad bill tips open molluscs by prising them apart or hammering through the shell, whereas pointed-bill birds dig up worms. Much of this is due to the wear resulting from feeding on the prey. Individual birds specialise in one technique or the other which they learn from their parents.[10] It shows clinal variation with an increase from west to east. The subspecies longipes has distinctly brownish upperparts and the nasal groove extends more than halfway along the bill. In the subspecies ostralegus the nasal groove stops short of the half-way mark. The osculans subspecies lacks white on the shafts of the outer 2–3 primaries and has no white on the outer webs of the outer five primaries.[12]
The American oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus) differs from the Eurasian oystercatcher in having a yellow eye and blackish-brown rather than black dorsal plumage.[13]
Distribution and migration
The oystercatcher is a migratory species over most of its range. The European population breeds mainly in northern Europe, but in winter the birds can be found in north Africa and southern parts of Europe. Although the species is present all year in Ireland, Great Britain and the adjacent European coasts, there is still migratory movement: the large flocks that are found in the estuaries of south-west England in winter mainly breed in northern England or Scotland. Similar movements are shown by the Asian populations. The birds are highly gregarious outside the breeding season.
Breeding
The mating system is monogamous and the pair-bond usually lasts for the many years. They first breed when they are between three and five years of age..
Status
Because of its large numbers and readily identified behaviour, the oystercatcher is an important
Gallery
-
parent with chick,Skomer Island
-
Four adults in flight (Hamburger Hallig, North Frisia)
-
Heligoland
References
- . Retrieved 11 November 2021.
- ^ Linnaeus, Carl (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1 (10th ed.). Holmiae (Stockholm): Laurentii Salvii. p. 152.
- ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
- ^ Catesby, Mark (1729–1732). The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands (in English and French). Vol. 1. London: W. Innys and R. Manby. p. 85, Plate 85.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-866196-2.
- ^ Yarrell, William (1843). A History of British Birds. Vol. 2. London: J. Van Voorst. p. 432.
- Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2021). "Buttonquail, thick-knees, sheathbills, plovers, oystercatchers, stilts, painted-snipes, jacanas, Plains-wanderer, seedsnipes". IOC World Bird List Version 11.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
- hdl:2164/15137.
- .
- ^ ISBN 0-19-854099-X.
- ^ Cramp 1983, p. 17.
- ISBN 978-0395602379.
- ISBN 978-84-87334-20-7.
- ^ Cramp 1983, p. 23.
- ^ a b Cramp 1983, pp. 32–33.
- ^ Cramp 1983, p. 28.
- ISBN 9780198546474
Sources
- ISBN 978-0-19-857506-1.