American Oystercatcher

Haematopus palliatus Temminck, 1820

American Oystercatcher, Haematopus palliatus, is a coastal bird of North, Middle and South America, breeding widely from western Mexico to southern Chile, and from the north-eastern United States to the northern Gulf of Mexico, the Yucatán Peninsula, the Caribbean and south to Argentina. It belongs to the Haematopodidae family. It is a black-and-white oystercatcher with a long, thick orange bill. Adults are 42–52 cm long. First described by Temminck in 1820, it is tied to shorelines and other marine edges, where it breeds on beaches, islands, marshes, mudflats and similar coastal ground.

Order

Charadriiformes

Family

Haematopodidae — Oystercatchers

Breeding range

North America, Middle America, South America: widespread coastal w Mexico to sc Chile; coastal ne USA to n Gulf of Mexico, Yucatan Pen.; Caribbean (local) to s Argentina