What is "oystercatcher"

oystercatcher \oystercatcher\, oyster catcher \oyster catcher\n. (Zo["o]l.), Any one of several species of wading birds of the genus H[ae]matopus having stout legs and bill and mostly black-and-white plumage, which frequent seashores and feed upon oysters and other shellfish. The European species ( H[ae]matopus ostralegus), the common American species ( H[ae]matopus palliatus), and the California, or black, oyster catcher ( H[ae]matopus Bachmani) are the best known.

Syn: oyster plover.

n. Any of several black or pied coastal wading birds in the genus ''Haematopus'' that have a long red or orange bill and feed on shellfish.

n. black-and-white shorebird with stout legs and bill; feed on oysters etc. [syn: oyster catcher]

The oystercatchers are a group of waders forming the family Haematopodidae, which has a single genus, Haematopus. 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. In the past there has been a great deal of confusion as to the species limits, with discrete populations of all black oystercatchers being afforded specific status but pied oystercatchers being considered one single species.

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. Yarrell in 1843 established this as the preferred term, replacing the older name sea pie. The genus name Haematopus comes from the Greek haima αἳμα blood, pous πούς foot.