Haematopus ostralegus
Silhouette: Wouter Koch · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~70% in a week ~90%
The Eurasian oystercatcher or European oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus), also known as the common pied oystercatcher, or (in Europe) just oystercatcher, is a wader in the oystercatcher bird family Haematopodidae. It has striking black and white plumage, a long straight orange-red bill, red eyes and relatively short dull pink legs. The sexes are similar in appearance but the bill of the female is longer than that of the male.
It is the most widespread of the oystercatchers, with four subspecies breeding in western Europe, central Eurosiberia, Kamchatka, China, and the western coast of Korea. No other oystercatcher occurs within this area. The Eurasian oystercatcher was listed by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Haemotopus ostralegus. The genus name Haematopus combines the Ancient Greek haima αἷμα meaning "blood" and pous πούς meaning "foot". The specific epithet ostralegus combines the Latin ostrea meaning "oyster" and legere meaning "to gather".
The name "oyster catcher" was coined by Mark Catesby in 1731 as a common name for the North American species H. palliatus, described as eating oysters... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 2 | Snowdonia National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 3 | Cairngorms National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 4 | Vatnajokull National Park | 🇮🇸 Iceland | |
| 5 | Camargue | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 6 | Doñana National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 7 | West Coast National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 8 | iSimangaliso Wetland Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 2 | Dublin | 🇮🇪 Ireland | |
| 3 | Helsinki | 🇫🇮 Finland | |
| 4 | Rotterdam [The Hague] | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 5 | Birmingham | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 6 | Karachi | 🇵🇰 Pakistan | |
| 7 | Manchester | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 8 | Amsterdam | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 9 | Kitakyushu | 🇯🇵 Japan | |
| 10 | Casablanca | 🇲🇦 Morocco |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a European Oystercatcher sighting in Helsinki on a given day, based on 2,034 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 36th most-seen of the 233 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May
In that month about 60% of wildlife watchers report a European Oystercatcher in Helsinki on a given day, against under 5% in September to February, the lowest months.
Between 3 and 6 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most European Oystercatcher sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 38
Of the 38 cities where we can rate European Oystercatcher sightings, Helsinki ranks 3rd at about 30%. The best odds are in Liverpool (United Kingdom, about 50%) and Dublin (Ireland, about 40%).
Same order: Charadriiformes
The closest relatives of the European Oystercatcher that you can see in Helsinki (order Charadriiformes, Shorebirds and Allies) are Common Gull (about 60%), European Herring Gull (about 50%) and Black-headed Gull (about 40%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the European Oystercatcher is recorded against all the birds logged in Helsinki (2,034 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
