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Abstract
The American Oystercatcher is a large, conspicuous shorebird, common in coastal salt marshes and along sand beaches throughout the central part of its range. One of the few birds to specialize on bivalve mollusks living in saltwater, this species is completely restricted to marine habitats. Two races breed in North America—the eastern nominate race along the Atlantic coast from southern Maine south, and a second race along the Pacific coast from northwestern Baja California south. While the eastern race has been studied extensively across its range both during winter and the breeding season, the biology of the western race is poorly known and this population may also be at risk both from coastal development and hybridization with the American Black Oystercatcher (H. bachmani). Eastern oystercatchers regularly winter in large flocks, from Virginia south along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts.
Study Area
| Publication type | Report |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Organization Series |
| Title | American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus) |
| Issue | 82 |
| Year Published | 2012 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Cornell Lab of Ornithology and American Ornithologists' Union |
| Contributing office(s) | Coop Res Unit Atlanta |
| Description | HTML |
| Larger Work Type | Report |
| Larger Work Title | The Birds of North America |
| Other Geospatial | East Coast United States, Gulf of Mexico and East Coast of Mexico |
| Online Only (Y/N) | N |
| Additional Online Files (Y/N) | N |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |