Oyster Catcher

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Oyster Catcher

 

(Haematopus ostralegus), a bird of the family Charadriidae of the suborder Limicolae. The body length is about 40 cm; the bird weighs about 500 g. The underparts are white, and the rest of the plumage is black except for white bars on the wings. The bill and legs are red.

Oyster catchers are distributed in Europe, Asia, North and South America, Africa, and Australia. In the USSR they live from the Kola Peninsula to the Black Sea (and to the Ob’ River in the east), in Kazakhstan and Middle Asia (except in the Pamirs and Tien-Shan), and in the Far East (Kamchatka, Amur Region). They winter in Africa and southern Asia. Oyster catchers live along the shores of seas and lakes and on the banks of large rivers. They feed primarily on mollusks, shellfish, insects, and, more rarely, small fish. The birds nest on the ground in small hollows with a meager lining. There are two to four eggs to a clutch. Both parents incubate the eggs over a period of 24—27 days. In contrast to other Limicolae, oyster catchers bring food to their young.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.