The American Oystercatcher is uniquely marked by its black and white body and a long, thick orange beak. They use their large and heavy beak to pry open molluscs.
The American Oystercatcher is found on the Atlantic coast of North America from New England to northern Florida, where it is also found on the Gulf coast.
The American Oystercatcher is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List and was last assessed in 2012 by BirdLife International. This species has a very large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population trend appears to be stable, and hence the species does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size may be moderately small to large, but it is not believed to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.
We recently added two new species of oystercatcher to Birdorable: the Black Oystercatcher and the Eurasian Oystercatcher. These join our updated American Oystercatcher. Here are some interesting facts about this family of conspicuous, large shorebirds. There are... Read more »
Birdorable.com welcomes the American Oystercatcher to the Birdorable family of cute birds. This unique bird is marked by its black and white body and a long, thick orange beak. They use this large and heavy beak to pry open molluscs. The American Oystercatcher is found on... Read more »
