Eurasian oystercatcher: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the Eurasian oystercatcher lives – recorded in 49 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Haematopus ostralegus
Group	Waders, gulls, terns & auks
Status	Near threatened (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	49 countries
Continents	Africa, Asia, Europe
Mass	46.7 g (birth weight); 518 g (adult weight)
Class	Bird
Order	Charadriiformes
Family	Haematopodidae

Where does the Eurasian oystercatcher live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the Eurasian oystercatcher in 49 countries and territories across Africa, Asia and Europe. Wikidata gives its range as: Nanling Mountains, Africa, Burkina Faso.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

How big is an Eurasian oystercatcher?

Wikidata records the following for the Eurasian oystercatcher: mass 46.7 g (birth weight); 518 g (adult weight).

Is the Eurasian oystercatcher endangered?

The Eurasian oystercatcher’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Near threatened” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the Eurasian oystercatcher?

The Eurasian oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus) is a bird in the order Charadriiformes and the family Haematopodidae, genus Haematopus. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the Eurasian oystercatcher

The Eurasian oystercatcher or European oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus), also known as the common pied oystercatcher, or (in Europe) 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.

It is the most widespread of the oystercatchers, with four subspecies breeding in western Europe, central Eurosiberia, Kamchatka, China, and the western coast of Korea. No other oystercatcher occurs within this area.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Eurasian oystercatcher (revision 1361099735), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q25928 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).