Birds of Ireland: Oystercatcher
Oystercatchers in full flight near Marlogue in County Cork. Picture: David Keane
Oystercatchers are around 40-50cm long with a wingspan of 80-86cm.
They are found on estuaries, coasts and farmland here all year around and are a common breeding species.
Oystercatchers are a bit bigger than a rook and both sexes look similar.
Adult oystercatchers are black and white with a long, straight orange-red beak and fairly long pink legs. Their non breeding plumage features a white half colar. Juvenile and immature oystercatchers have a dark tip to their beak and a white half collar in their first summer plumage.
In flight, the long straight orange-red beak and the black-and-white body and wings are visible.
An oystercatcher's voice is a very loud single-noted piping call, repeated often and sometimes speeding up at the end. Sometimes several birds form a loose circle, calling with their necks stretched outward and upward, and beaks pointing towards the ground.
: After perching birds, waders are the largest and one of the most important groups of birds in Ireland.
When a large group of waders, such as dunlin or golden plover, takes to the sky, they fly over the estuary as a unit, turning and twisting in unison. They will bank from side to side, flashing their pale undersides, beginning at the front of the flock and spreading along its length. This movement is called 'wheeling' and provides a kind of natural firework display, difficult to surpass.
- Jim Wilson is a wildlife writer, broadcaster, tour leader, and former chairman of BirdWatch Ireland. He has been involved in the study and conservation of birds in Ireland for more than 45 years, contributing to several major surveys and international projects.
- Mark Carmody is an award-winning wildlife photographer, has a PhD in biochemistry and works as a European patent attorney.
