Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus) 

Listen (Windows Media Player)
© Copyright by Alberto Masi - www.scricciolo.com

Status: Resident all year round
Scots Names: Mussill picker, Sheldro, Red neb, Gilliebride
Size: 42cm
Habitat: Estuaries, marshes, farmland, increasingly inland
Breeding: Often nests on flat gravel roofs and on gravel roundabouts, over 120,000 breeding pairs, numbers
increase to over 300,000 wintering birds. Up to 4 eggs laid, though typically 3.
Call Note: Males particularly vocal in patrolling the nest site, distinctive, shrill, piping call.
Food: Mainly mussels, cockles and worms, coastal birds have more varied diet
Status: AMBER