Granddad’s Camera
Oystercatcher, as it appears in the game

No.060 · Birds · Common

Oystercatcher

Haematopus ostralegus

A bold, noisy black-and-white wader with a long orange-red bill that prises open mussels and cockles.

When to look

All year, mostly at dawn, day and dusk.

Time of day

Best time
All year on rocky shores and beaches; the piping display and chicks run April–June.
Where in the game
the Pembrokeshire coast (cove, clifftop and island)
Size
40–45 cm
Wingspan
80–85 cm
Weight
About 546 g
Lifespan
Typically 12 years once breeding; oldest ringed bird about 41 years (BTO)
Population
96,000 breeding pairs in the UK (BTO, 2016) and 305,000 wintering birds (BTO, 2012–17). Breeding numbers fell 23% between 1995 and 2024. 75 pairs on Skomer in 2024
Status
Amber list, UK Birds of Conservation Concern (RSPB, BTO)

Diet

Shellfish such as mussels and cockles, plus worms and other shore invertebrates

Habitat

Rocky shores, sandy beaches, estuaries, and grazing marsh and fields

Breeding

Typically 2–3 eggs laid in a scrape on a beach or shingle, incubated for 24–27 days; chicks fledge after 34–37 days

Field signs

  • A striking black-and-white body with an orange-red bill and pink legs
  • A shrill 'kleep, kleep' piping call, especially in spring
  • A white wing-bar and rump in flight
  • Birds running with heads down and bills stabbing at the tideline

Did you know?

  • One ringed oystercatcher lived to over 41 years old (BTO).
  • UK oystercatchers spread inland along rivers and waterways from the 1970s to about 1986, but numbers there are now falling (BTO).
  • About 305,000 oystercatchers spend the winter in the UK, joined by birds from Norway and Iceland (BTO, 2012–17).

Moments worth waiting for

  • Piping display March to May, dawn and day
    Two oystercatchers run side by side, bills pointing down, in a shrill piping duet.
  • Chicks on the shore May to June, day
    A tiny, fluffy chick freezes on the pebbles while its parents call from the rocks.

Photo tip

Get low on the shoreline and let birds come to you, using 300–500 mm. The black-and-white contrast is tricky: expose for the white and keep detail in the bill. Early or late light warms the bill colour.

Be a good naturalist

Stay on the shoreline path in the breeding season: do not walk over nests on pebbles or chicks that freeze in the open. Keep dogs on a lead and stay back if adults call, run or feign injury.

The law

Protected as a wild bird under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981; ground-nesting birds are easily disturbed

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