Parques de Portugal

<p> <em>Haematopus ostralegus</em> Linnaeus, 1758</p>

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  • Eurasian Oystercatcher

  • Haematopus ostralegus Linnaeus, 1758

  • Haematopodidae

  • The Oystercatcher is an unmistakable wader bird , with black feathers on the upper body and white at the bottom, and an orange long beak with a blunt tip and black and pink legs. In flight are visible white spots at the base of the tail and wings, and in winter plumage it has a white half-collar. It can reach 44 cm long and 83 cm wingspan.

  • Ria Formosa Nature Park

    Estuário do Sado Nature Reserve

  • Algarve

    Lisboa e Vale do Tejo

  • Regionally Extinct (reproductive population) | Near Threatened (visiting pop.)

  • Inhabits beaches, estuaries, coastal wetlands and other inland lakes.

  • All year long

  • It feeds on shellfish, other aquatic invertebrates and occasionally fish. Gets the food probing the mud with its beak, also used to open the captured bivalves.

  • The Portuguese population of this species is estimated to be between a thousand and 5 thousand nesting couples and between 900 to 1200 wintering individuals.