American Oystercatcher

USFWS Focal Species

American OystercatcherBiology & EcologyDistribution & AbundanceStatus, Trends, & ThreatsConservation

[American Oystercatcher - Photo by Peter Wallack]

The American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus) has been identified as a focal species of management concern due to recent evidence of population declines in the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain, low overall size of the eastern population of American Oystercatchers, and ongoing threats in breeding and wintering grounds, particularly in the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of North America. Loss and degradation of habitats (sandy beaches, shell rakes, tidal mudflats, and salt marshes) along the coast due to human development and recreation are the greatest threats to American Oystercatcher populations. Human disturbance of nesting birds as a result of recreational activities in coastal habitats is also a concern, as are introduced predators especially on barrier islands.

Date: September 2006

Sources:
Schulte, S., S. Brown, and the American Oystercatcher Working Group. 2006. Version 1.0. American Oystercatcher Conservation Plan for the United States Atlantic and Gulf Coasts.

National Audubon Society. 2002. Audubon WatchList: American Oystercatcher ( Haematopus palliatus ). Downloaded from (http: www.audubon.org) on 9/6/2006.

Nol, E. and R.C. Humphrey. 1994. American Oystercatcher ( Haematopus palliatus ). In The Birds of North America, No. 82 (A. Poole and F. Gill, Eds.). Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, D.C.: The American Ornithologists' Union.

Species Profile from NatureServe

American Oystercatcher
Haematopus palliatus

Description: A large shorebird with a large, straight, laterally compressed red-orange bill (orange bill color not as extensive in juvenile) and moderately long neck and legs; head, neck, and back are black-dark brown; wings are dark with a broad white stripe; tail is dark with a large white patch at the base; dark upperparts are scaly-looking in juveniles; average length 47 cm (NGS 1983).

Life History: Clutch size is 2-4 (usually 2-3). Incubation lasts 27 days, by both sexes. Young are tended by both parents, leave nest in 1-2 days, probably first fly at about 5 weeks. Initially, young depend almost entirely on parents for food.

In Virginia, reproductive success was highly variable; large proportion of pairs failed to fledge young; losses due mainly to high tides and predation (Nol 1989).

Typically monogamous; care of both parents may be required for successful reproduction; communal breeding has been observed (Lauro et al. 1992).

Habitat: Rocky and sandy seacoasts and islands (AOU 1983); river mouths and estuaries, especially where rocks exposed at low tide; mudflats, salt ponds (Stiles and Skutch 1989).

Nests on the ground in open sites often on high parts of sandy beaches, also among rocks, on islands, on shingle beds, occasionally in saltmarsh (Harrison 1979, Harrison 1978, Shields and Parnell 1990). In marsh habitats, nested on sand in North Carolina, on sand, wrack, or grass in New York and New Jersey (Lauro and Burger 1989).

Status: IUCN Conservation Status - Least concern (LC)

Resources: NatureServe Species Profile - Full Report