Introduction

BlackOystercatcher — BirdsofNorthAmericaOnline Page1of2

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Already a subscriber? Sign in Don'thave a subscription? Subscribe Now Black Oystercatcher Haematopus bachmani Order CHARADRIIFORMES –Family HAEMATOPODIDAE Issue No.155 Authors:Andres, Brad A.,and Gary A.Falxa

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Articles

Introduction Welcome to the Birds of North America Online! Welcome to BNA Online, the leading source of life history information for North American breeding birds.This free, Distinguishing Characteristics courtesy preview is just the first of 14articles that provide detailed life history information including Distribution, Migration, Distribution Habitat, Food Habits, Sounds, Behavior and Breeding.Written by acknowledged experts on each species, there is also a comprehensive bibliography of published research on the species. Systematics

Migration A subscription is needed to access the remaining articles for this and any other species.Subscription rates start as low as $5USD for 30days of complete access to the resource.To subscribe, please visit the Cornell Lab of Ornithology E-Store. Habitat

Food Habits If you are already a current subscriber, you will need to sign in with your login information to access BNA normally.

Sounds Subscriptions are available for as little as $5for 30days of full access!If you would like to subscribe to BNA Online, just Behavior visit the Cornell Lab of Ornithology E-Store.

Breeding Introduction Demography and Populations

Conservation and Management

Appearance

Measurements

Priorities for Future Research

Acknowledgments

About the Author(s)

Black Oystercatcher in flight, Pt.Pinos, Monterey, California, 18February 2007.

http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/155/articles/introduction 11/14/2015 BlackOystercatcher — BirdsofNorthAmericaOnline Page2of2

Fig.1.Distribution of the Black Oystercatcher. “Left to themselves,the birds are no Quakers,and the antics of courtship are both noisy and amusing.”(Dawson in Bent 1929)

The Black Oystercatcher is a conspicuous member of rocky intertidal communities along the west coast of North America. Completely dependent on marine shorelines for its food and nesting, this is a monogamous, long-lived bird.Breeding pairs establish well-defined, composite feeding and nesting territories and generally occupy the same territory year after year, often along low-sloping gravel or rocky shorelines where intertidal prey are abundant.Pairs nest just above the high-tide line and use the intertidal zone to feed themselves and provision their chicks.Diets of adults and chicks consist mainly of molluscs;principally mussels and limpets.Parental feeding of offspring extends well after chicks develop independent flight.

Pairs often abandon their territories in winter and form flocks;in areas of high mussel density, these flocks often number in the hundreds.Human-induced disturbances on islands where Black Oystercatchers nest have eliminated local populations.

Genus Haematopus is Greek for blood eye (red in Old World forms).Specific scientific name is by John J.Audubon for his friend, the Reverand John Bachman.

Recommended Citation Andres, Brad A.and Gary A.Falxa.1995.Black Oystercatcher (Haematopus bachmani), The Birds of North America Online (A.Poole, Ed.).Ithaca:Cornell Lab of Ornithology;Retrieved from the Birds of North America Online: http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/155

doi:10.2173/bna.155

http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/155/articles/introduction 11/14/2015