Oystercatcher
by Dawn Gari
Title
Oystercatcher
Artist
Dawn Gari
Medium
Photograph - Digital Art
Description
The oystercatchers are a group of birds known as waders. They are found on coasts worldwide apart from the polar regions and some tropical regions of Africa and South East Asia. The exception to this is the Eurasian oystercatcher and the South Island oystercatcher, both of which breed inland, far inland in some cases.
The name oystercatcher was coined by Mark Catesby in 1731 as a common name for the North American species H. palliatus, described as eating oysters.[ The different species of oystercatcher show little variation in shape or appearance. The Eurasian oystercatcher is the lightest, while the sooty oystercatcher is the heaviest. The plumage of all species is either all-black, or black (or dark brown) on top and white underneath. The variable oystercatcher is slightly exceptional in being either all-black or pied. They are large, obvious, and noisy plover-like birds, with massive long orange or red bills used for smashing or prying open molluscs. The bill shape varies between species, according to the diet. Those birds with blade-like bill tips pry open or smash mollusc shells, and those with pointed bill tips tend to probe for annelid worms. They show sexual dimorphism, with females being longer-billed and heavier than males
Uploaded
July 2nd, 2015
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