Black oystercatcher
Haematopus bachmani Audubon, 1838
Status not recordedbirds
The black oystercatcher (Haematopus bachmani) is a species in the family Haematopodidae, order Charadriiformes. Recorded adults weigh 542 g to 555 g and live up to 16 years.
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Quick facts about the black oystercatcher
- Weight
- 542 g – 555 g
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 16 years
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 43.3 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Egg incubation
- 26 days
- Young per litter or clutch
- 2.77
- Age at maturity
- 4 years – 4.49 years
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the black oystercatcher live?
Not recorded
Is the black oystercatcher endangered?
No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.
How is the black oystercatcher classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderCharadriiformes
- familyHaematopodidae
- genusHaematopus
- SpeciesHaematopus bachmani Audubon, 1838
Synonyms Haematopus ater bachmani, Haematopus ostralegus bachmani, Haematopus ostralegus frazari, Haematopus palliatus frazari, Hoematopus townsendi, Scolopax nigra
Other names and names in other languages (46)
- American black oystercatcherEnglish
- Bachman's oyster-catcherEnglish
- White-legged oyster-catcherEnglish
- صائد المحار الأسودArabic
- Morbig BachmanBreton
- garsa de mar negra nord-americanaCatalan
- ústřičník západníCzech
- pioden fôr ddu AmericaWelsh
- Amerikansk Sort StrandskadeDanish
- KlippenausternfischerGerman
- nigra hematopodoEsperanto
- Ostrero negroSpanish
- põhja-mustmeriskEstonian
- صدفخوار سیاهPersian
- alaskanmeriharakkaFinnish
- Huîtrier de BachmanFrench
- Roilleach dubhIrish
- crni oštrigarCroatian
- alaszkai csigaforgatóHungarian
- Beccaccia di mare neraItalian
- クロミヤコドリJapanese
- juodoji amerikinė jūršarkėLithuanian
- Aleutu jūras žagataLatvian
- Tábąąh chʼosh haalzheehii łizhinígííNavajo
- Amerikaanse zwarte scholeksterDutch
- amerikasvarttjeldNorwegian
- ostrygojad czarnyPolish
- ostraceiro-preto-americanoPortuguese
- Чёрный кулик-сорокаRussian
- lastúrničiar čiernySlovak
- Američki crni ostrigarSerbian
- klippstrandskataSwedish
- นกพรานหอยดำThai
- Kara PoyrazkuşuTurkish
- кулик-сорока чорнийUkrainian
- 黑蠣鴴Chinese
- Bachman-AusternfischerGerman
- Klippen-AusternfischerGerman
- Amerika nigra hematopoEsperanto
- Ostrero Negro NorteamericanoSpanish
- beccaccia di mare nera del NordamericaItalian
- Noord-Amerikaanse Zwarte ScholeksterDutch
- Ostraceiro-preto-norte-americanoPortuguese
- piru-piru-preto-norteamericanoPortuguese
- pirupiru-preto-norte-americanoPortuguese
- 北美黑蛎鹬Chinese
Relatives of the black oystercatcher
Other species in the same genus Haematopus.

Eurasian oystercatcher
Haematopus ostralegus

American oystercatcher
Haematopus palliatus

South island oystercatcher
Haematopus finschi

African oystercatcher
Haematopus moquini

Variable oystercatcher
Haematopus unicolor

Blackish oystercatcher
Haematopus ater
CompareBlack oystercatcher vs Eurasian oystercatcherBlack oystercatcher vs American oystercatcherBlack oystercatcher vs South island oystercatcherBlack oystercatcher vs African oystercatcher
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the black oystercatcher?
An adult black oystercatcher weighs 542 g – 555 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
How long does the black oystercatcher live?
The black oystercatcher has a recorded lifespan of 16 years.
What kind of animal is the black oystercatcher?
The black oystercatcher (Haematopus bachmani) belongs to the family Haematopodidae in the order Charadriiformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
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Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits · CC BY 4.0 · v1
Oliveira, B.F., São-Pedro, V.A., Santos-Barrera, G., Penone, C. & Costa, G.C. (2017) AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits. Scientific Data 4: 170123. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.123. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.4644424.v5 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - LepTraits 1.0: a globally comprehensive dataset of butterfly traits · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Shirey, V., Larsen, E., Doherty, A. et al. (2022) LepTraits 1.0: a globally comprehensive dataset of butterfly traits. Scientific Data 9: 382. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01473-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.19874602.v1 - Northwestern European arthropod life histories and ecological traits (raw datasets) · CC BY 4.0 · 2024-12-17
Logghe, G., Batsleer, F., Maes, D. et al. (2025) An in-depth dataset of northwestern European arthropod life histories and ecological traits. Biodiversity Data Journal 13: e146785. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.13.e146785. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13379714 - ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles · CC BY 4.0 · v1-2
Oskyrko, O., Mi, C., Meiri, S. et al. (2024) ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles. Scientific Data 11: 243. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03079-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24572683.v4 - Sharkipedia: a curated open access database of shark and ray life history traits · CC BY 4.0 · 1.0-2022-06-17
Mull, C.G., Pacoureau, N., Pardo, S.A. et al. (2022) Sharkipedia: a curated open access database of shark and ray life history traits and abundance time-series. Scientific Data 9: 559. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01655-1. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6656525 - SquamBase 1.0 - a dataset of squamate species traits · CC0 1.0 · 1.0-dryad-v5
Meiri, S. (2024) SquamBase - a database of squamate (Reptilia: Squamata) traits. Global Ecology and Biogeography 33(4): e13812. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13812. Data: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.76hdr7t3b - TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe · CC BY 4.0 · 2.0
Chauvier, Y., Adde, A., Bergamini, A. et al. (2025) TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15063844 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Black oystercatcher (Haematopus bachmani). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-oystercatcher
“Black oystercatcher (Haematopus bachmani).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-oystercatcher.
@misc{black_oystercatcher_2026,
title = {Black oystercatcher (Haematopus bachmani)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-oystercatcher},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}