Despite being an easy sighting, Oystercatchers are on the UK’s Amber list of Birds of Conservation Concern. This follows a decline of 39% between 1995-2018 in Scotland. Threats to the species include high levels of predation, human disturbance, overfishing of shellfish and cold weather events.
While numbers have stabilised in England, we’ve made Oystercatchers an RSPB priority species and are working to identify solutions to their decline.
We’re at risk of losing some seabird species in just a few decades. Be part of the team tackling their biggest threats.
Although associated primarily with the coast and estuaries, Oystercatchers can be found across a large part of the UK, with breeding strongholds in the interior of Scotland However, they’re typically a feature of estuaries and bays throughout October. Morecambe Bay hosts the most wintering Oystercatchers in the UK with approximately 40,000 birds counted at high tide roosts last winter.
Oystercatchers are on our shores all-year round, and, thanks to their adaptability, they turn up in some surprising locations like car parks and urban rooftops. However, from autumn, you’ll likely see them in big groups along our shorelines. Through the colder months, they eat cockles and mussels, using their strong bill to prise open or hammer their prey.
Last year, the world’s oldest Oystercatcher was discovered by the Wash Wader Research group – thanks to the power of long-term bird ringing projects. Oystercatchers have an average life expectancy of 12 years old, but this record breaker had reached a whopping 43 years old.
Brilliant birds, month by month: what to see and where to go.
