Eurasian Oystercatcher

Haematopus ostralegus

The Eurasian oystercatcher or European oystercatcher, also known as the common pied oystercatcher, or just oystercatcher, is a wader in the oystercatcher bird family Haematopodidae. It has striking black and white plumage, a long straight orange-red bill, red eyes and relatively short dull pink legs. The sexes are similar in appearance but the bill of the female is longer than that of the male. Source

Where it is now

In the last 8 weeks this bird was recorded 37,754 times across 47 areas (each area is a 5 degree square).

See the Eurasian Oystercatcher on the live map

Movement and weather

Each season it is first heard regularly where daytime highs are around 8°C (typically 6 to 11°C, from 18 areas). That holds across 70° of latitude, which suggests its timing follows temperature more than the calendar.

Arrival dates

The week it was first heard regularly in each region, after at least six weeks away. Dates differ from south to north, so a region has a range.

Download every area as CSV

Figures are effort corrected and come from automatic sound identification, which makes mistakes. How this is measured and how it compares with human observers.