Wildlife Watching Wednesday: The Shellfish-Loving American Oystercatcher

By: Tom Berg

The American Oystercatcher is a strange-looking, but very cool bird.  It is a fairly large shorebird (about the size of a crow), and it lives most of its life along saltwater beaches and shorelines.  It has a jet black head, neck and breast, and its wings and back are a dark brown color.  It has a bright white belly and underparts.  Its long bill is bright orange – almost red.  Its eye is a deep yellow color and it has a bright red eye-ring which is hard to forget.

This bird is called an oystercatcher because oysters, clams, mussels and other shellfish make up the vast majority of its diet.  It is surprisingly adept at finding and opening these bivalve mollusks, too.  Oystercatchers move along the beach or oyster bar very slowly until they see a clam or oyster underwater that is slightly open.  Then they stab their long bill into the opening and quickly cut the muscle that holds the two halves of the shell together.  Once this is done, they can eat the meat inside at their leisure.

If they are unsuccessful at wedging their bill inside a clam or oyster’s shell, they will also attempt to break the shell open by striking it with their sharp bill.  Besides the normal oysters and clams, they also eat the occasional sandworm, snail, jellyfish, small crab and other crustaceans that they find while foraging in the shallows.

The American oystercatcher prefers to forage and nest on small barrier islands where there are no predators like raccoons (and others).  Small mangrove islands are ideal, as long as they have areas of dry sand where the birds can nest, and shallow waters with plenty of mollusks and shellfish.

American Oystercatchers can be found all along the Gulf Coast and most of the East Coast in the United States.  They are also found throughout the Caribbean and the coasts of most of Central America and Mexico, too.  Basically, they are attracted to a variety of coastal areas where there are plenty of clams and shellfish for them to eat.

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