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Dieren en planten

Waders   Plovers   Oystercatcher   Avocet   Lapwing   Birds   Important bird region   

Oystercatcher

size:

length: 40-45 centimeters
wingspan: 80-86 centimeters

weight:

540 grams

color:

black back and head, white belly, long orange bill (~7 centimeters), sturdy pinkish legs, red eyes

food:

predominantly bivalves (cockles, mussels, tellins), crustaceans, earthworms, insect larvae

Dutch status:

resident, migratory and winter guest

habitat

tidal flats, marshes, dunes, pastures

reproduction:

2-3 eggs
maturity: 4 years old

life span:

12 years; maximum known age: +43 years

special nature:

tidal flat birds have short blunt bills for hammering; farmland birds have pointed bills

  • Dut: Scholekster
  • Eng: Oystercatcher
  • Fren: Hußtrier pie
  • Ger: Austernfischer
  • Ital: Beccaccia di mare
  • Lat: Haematopus ostralegus
  • Dan: Strandskade
  • Nor: Tjeld
  • Frisian: Strânljip
print print
Oystercatcher, foto fitis, adriaan dijksen

Oystercatcher

Perhaps oystercatchers used to eat mainly oysters, but the ones we know nowadays prefer mussels and cockles. And even jellyfish! Actually, they either live along the shores of tidal flats and eat mostly bivalves, or they have adapted to meadows and eat worms and insect larvae. They are busy birds, dribbling and chatting among themselves with a typical te-peet, te-peet sound. They are easy to recognize at night as they communicate among themselves while flying overhead. During the day, oystercatchers are easy to identify by their black and white plumage and orange bill. The bivalve consumers have very strong bills, being the wader to open a thick cockle.

On Texel


You find oystercatchers on Texel the entire year. No wonder this bird has been given a Texels name: Lieuw. The characteristic  te-pete te-pete was probably interpreted on the island as 'klieuw-klieuw', and thusly named. When bad weather is approaching, they make a different sound, 'druup-druup', for those who want to listen. This is a sign for Texelaars that it will be a rainy day.

  • Seniors
    nest of Oystercatcher, foto fitis, sytske dijksen

    Since 1930, the breeding population of oystercatchers in the Netherlands increased every year. However, the population here has declined by 50% since 1990. The birds first profited from the rich tidal flats and the well-fertilized fields. However, in the last decade of the 20th century, the amount of shellfish in the Wadden Sea kept declining, partially due to intensive cockle and mussel fisheries. That had a negative influence on the oystercatchers in the wadden region. Very few juveniles reached maturity. Furthermore, farmers often mow their grasslands too early for these birds and nests built on the salt marshes wash away more frequently then they used to due to extra high tides.

    Oystercatchers can reach an old age, which is why it took a long time to realize how bad the situation was. In 2006, intensive shellfish fisheries in the Wadden Sea ended, but recovery is still not noticeable among the oystercatcher. A large part of the breeding population is made up of senior birds.

  • Residents, leapfrogs and club birds
    Oystercatchers, foto fitis, sytske dijksen

    Because young oystercatchers are fed by their parents, the adults try to limit the distance between feeding area and nest as much as possible. There is much bickering for the best spots. The strongest oystercatchers are called residents, birds that make their nest along the edge of the marsh and the flats. These birds reach their prey quickly during low tide and can feed their young lots of food.
    The weaker oystercatchers are called leapfrogs; they make their nests higher up on the salt marsh and need to commute around 500 meters between the flats and their nest. There is no way they can feed their chicks as much as the residents. However, there are some advantages to being a leapfrog. Should the marsh flood due to storm and extra high tides, the nests of the residents will be the first to wash be endangered.
    The weakest oystercatchers are often unable to secure a nesting spot. They are forced to skip a year of breeding. These unfortunate birds are the clubs. During high tide, they gather in large groups, or clubs.

  • Protection
    • Monitoring: Network Ecological Monitoring
    • Policy: Target Species List
    • National legislation: Flora and Fauna Regulation
    • European Agreement: Bird Directive
    • International:Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA), Bern Convention
  • Did you know that...

    ... oystercatchers will also eat jellyfish? And then not the little shrimp that feed off the eggs of the animal, but the jellyfish itself. During his daily bike ride to work along the dike, a biologist on Texel encountered an oystercatcher ripping off pieces of a Rhizostome jellyfish, sometimes even rinsing it in clean water before swallowing it.

    ... oystercatchers feed their chicks for 2 months. That is why they can nest on rooftops, since the chicks don't forage for themselves until they too can fly.

  • Chisel-shaped or spiked bill

    Some oystercatchers specialize after birth in eating worms or shellfish. Others eat both. Shellfish consumers need to hammer and chisel before they manage to open up the shell and eat the meat. Their bill wears down from all that hammering and therefore gets a chisel-shaped tip. Worm consumers, on the other hand, have a sharp spiked tip. Female oystercatchers tend to specialize in eating worms. They are slightly larger than males and their bill is usually longer, allowing them to dig deeper in the ground. Males go after the shellfish more often and therefore usually have a chisel-shaped bill. Bills that are neither spiked nor chisel-shaped belong to those that don't specialized and eat both worms and shellfish. Birds that are specialized in shellfish or worms usually survive well during severe winters. Birds which eat both have the advantage during mild and average winters. Due to climate change, the oystercatcher would be wise to become a generalist.