American oystercatcher
Haematopus palliatus
Identification Tips:
- Length: 16 inches
- Large shorebird
- Bright orange, long, thick bill
- Head and breast black
- Dark gray back and wings
- White belly
- Large white patch on inner wing
- White uppertail coverts and dark tail
- Pink legs
Adult
- Yellow eye
- Orange orbital ring
Juvenile
- Eye dark and orbital ring not conspicuous
- Dark end of bill
- Upperparts faintly fringed with buff
Similar species:
The striking black and white plumage, large size, and bright orange bill
make this bird quite unlike any other.
Length and wingspan from: Robbins, C.S., Bruun, B., Zim, H.S., (1966). Birds of North America. New York: Western Publishing Company, Inc.