Oystercatcher

The oystercatchers are a group of waders forming the family Haematopodidae, which has a single genus, Haematopus. They are found on coasts worldwide, apart from the polar regions and some tropical regions of Africa and Southeast Asia. The exceptions to this are the Eurasian oystercatcher, the South Island oystercatcher, and the Magellanic oystercatcher, which also breed inland, far inland in some cases. In the past there has been a great deal of confusion as to the species' limits, with discrete populations of all black oystercatchers being afforded specific status but pied oystercatchers being considered one single species.