Black Oystercatcher
Updated: Sep 13
Its name is misleading—it seldom eats oysters—preferring intertidal macroinvertebrates like mussels, limpets, and barnacles sourced from the rocky surf zone (read Uncovering SGI intertidal life). So, as a shoreline birder, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that of the nearly two hundred resident and part-time bird species in the Southern Gulf Islands, the Black Oystercatcher is one of my Five Finest Feathered Friends.
The others on my list of Five Finest Feathered Friends are: Great Blue Heron • Bald Eagle • Turkey Vulture • Double-crested Cormorant.
Table of Contents
Photographs, videos, audio, and text Copyright © 2026 Richard Philpot/SGIOUTSIDE.ca.
Two Black Oystercatchers eyeing a meal in Fulford Harbour on Salt Spring Island (120925).
Black Oystercatcher—The one with the carrot-like bill
This crow-sized bird is quickly identified by its dark brown body feathers and black neck and head, from which protrudes a carrot-shaped and reddish-orange-coloured bill. There’s no mistaking it. If in doubt, listen for one or more of its high-pitched, rising wheeee whistled calls, sounding similar to an excited child riding a high-reaching park swing or speeding downhill on a bike for the first time.
You may see Black Oystercatchers in the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve (GINPR, Parks Canada) sporting orange leg bands (right leg) with black lettering. Parks Canada is surveying the species in the GINPR as part of the Ecological Integrity Monitoring Program. Black Oystercatchers are “an important indicator of rocky intertidal community health.”
Paddlers are sure to see these fascinating birds on rocky outcrops during a falling tide, when mussels, their favourite food, unlock their shells to filter the receding ocean water for plankton. Using its long bill, the Black Oystercatcher pries the mussel shell apart and cuts the mussel’s abductor muscle that holds the shell closed. With the half-shells flat open, it can use its “carrot” to consume the edible meat.
From mid-April through mid-August, humans disturbing a Black Oystercatcher’s ground-level nest may lead to temporary or total abandonment of the nest, leaving the chicks unprotected and vulnerable to predation by Gulls, Bald Eagles, and Crows, as well as raccoons, mink, rats, foxes, and feral cats. The chicks’ survival can depend on human mindfulness of the bird family’s turf, especially during breeding season.
Species profile: Black Oystercatcher (Haematopus bachmani)
Status: BC Conservation Data Centre (CDC): Risk factor not assessed.
Seasonal Abundance: Year-round resident of BC’s seashores; non-migratory.
Range: Resident along the Pacific coast from the Aleutian Islands to Baja California.
Habitat: Rocky outcrops, islets, and coastline; avoids tall cliffs.
Description: Size—43 centimetres (approx. 17”); wingspan—70-90 cm (approx. 27”-35”); weigh 500-700 grams (approx. 1-1.5 lbs); adult—heavyset with long, thick, straight, reddish-orange-coloured bill, pinkish-yellow legs; red-ringed yellow eye; juveniles—duller brownish colour overall, dusky bill; rests and preens at high tide, sometimes with dozens of others.
Flight: Rapid and deep wing flap to navigate strong coastal winds, flies close to and follows the shoreline in low arcs (and to avoid breaking surf); nest disputes can build to spirited chasing; mating pairs often fly together while repeating their distinctive whistled calls.
Calls: Quite vocal but especially when breeding; no mistaking its high-pitched, rising wheeee whistled call, often in flight with fluttering wings; listen to Black Oystercatcher at Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s All About Birds.
Vision & Sense of Smell: Relies on daylight (doesn’t feed at night); adults’ red-ringed yellow irises are thought to help them spot prey movement against wet, reflective rock surfaces.
Diet: Visual hunters, foraging alone or in small groups; walk unhurriedly along rocky surf zone looking for prey (like dense mussel beds); prefer intertidal macroinvertebrates like mussels, limpets, and barnacles; using their bill, they chisel limpets, whelks, and chitons from the rock, flip them over and eat; in winter, they may gather in flocks of hundreds and search for more plentiful feeding locales.
Nesting: Make scrape nests (shallow depressions lined with broken shells and stones) above the high-tide line on shell, pebble, or sandy beaches, as well as rocky headlands and treeless islands; nest size averages 20 cm (8”) across and 2.5 cm (1”) deep; during breeding season (mid-April through mid-August), breeding pairs guard and defend select areas.
Reproduction: Monogamous, stay together year-round; 1-4 eggs, yellowish-white to greyish-green with dark spots; chicks can walk and venture outside the nest shortly after hatching, as soon as their down feathers dry; both adults incubate eggs and care for their chicks, feeding them and teaching them how to forage after they fledge.
Life Expectancy: Oldest recorded in BC was 27 years old (calculated during banding/survey).
Stressors & Threats: Exposed shoreline ground nests make eggs and chicks vulnerable to avian predators (i.e., Gulls, Bald Eagles, Crows), and raccoons, mink, rats, foxes, and feral cats; human disturbance may result in nest abandonment or nest damage); susceptible to harm from high-tide vessel wakes and contamination from oil spills.
My Other Favourite Finest Feathered Friends (left to right): Great Blue Heron • Turkey Vulture • Bald Eagle • Cormorants
Great Blue Heron with a fresh catch in the Thieves Bay shallows (North Pender Island). 
A Turkey Vulture riding warm thermal updrafts above the Swanson Channel shoreline. 
A Bald Eagle scanning the surrounding skyline from its perch on a Douglas fir branch. 
Double-crested Cormorant nests on the high bluff of Mandarte Island’s southwest shore.
Birding in the SGI
The climate and location of the Southern Gulf Islands make the area an important year-round residence, a winter destination, and a migratory flyway. Mid-April to mid-May is the ideal time for birding, when winter and summer birds overlap, though there are plenty to see year-round. A field guide, a smartphone bird app like Merlin, and binoculars are necessities. A spotting scope is even better for viewing raptors, like Bald Eagles and water and shorebirds. Of the hundreds of bird species to be sighted in the SGI, not all are common to all islands.
In addition to Five Finest Feathered Friends, birders can look forward to sightings of Belted Kingfishers, Common Ravens, Rufous Hummingbirds, Pileated Woodpeckers, California Quail, Trumpeter Swans, Pacific Loons, and a great many other shorebirds and songbirds. See the eBird: Bird Lists by SGI locations for extensive inventories of species seen in various places.
Birding ethics: So that no harm comes to the birds or the environment
Three things to keep in mind when observing our feathered friends.
Keep your distance. As exciting as it is to get “this close” to a particular bird or a nest, remember that if you’re so close that the bird leaves, you’re too close. The bird will fly to safety, and may do so at the risk of leaving eggs or chicks unprotected from predators. I have unwittingly caused too many birds to take flight in the past and now adhere to a 100-metre rule. With binoculars, I can see the bird clearly from 100 metres as it goes about its normal routine. Keeping your distance also applies to your dog; please don’t let your four-legged friend take chase.
Leave no trace. Do your best not to damage the bird’s natural environment. Remove everything that you bring with you. Leaving garbage, in particular picnic food scraps, may attract predators. Please DO NOT feed wild birds.
Let nature be. A bird may appear abandoned or in distress, but probably isn’t. Young birds on the ground likely are learning to fly. Don’t worry; a parent is undoubtedly close by and will return as soon as you leave. Even a bird that appears injured or dead may not be. If it’s a hummingbird, it may be in a state of torpor—a dormant, inactive state of hibernation (in other words, this high-energy bird is simply resting). If you are certain a bird is injured, contact a local veterinarian or recognized wildlife rescue organization before touching or moving it.
Black Oystercatchers landing on Sidney Spit, Sidney Island (0911).
Good locations in the SGI to see a Black Oystercatcher
Anniversary Islet (Belle Chain Islets), Portland Island (Inner Gulf Islands), Canoe Rock (between Portland and Moresby Islands), Sidney Spit (Sidney Island).
*eBird: Bird Lists by SGI locations highlighted in SGI Outside
The side menu in the linked eBird Bird Lists lets you view the Iconic Birds of that location and the best time to see them. eBird: Bird Lists are constantly evolving (SGI Outside regularly updates the number shown below).
See the eBird Hotspot Map for the Southern Gulf Islands.
North Pender Island
George Hill Park (GINPR): 99 species seen since 2017 (eBird)
Medicine Beach Nature Sanctuary—138 species since 2013 (eBird)
Mount Menzies (GINPR): 34 species seen since 2022 (eBird)
Roe Islet Trail, Roesland (GINPR): 101 species seen since 2015 (eBird)
South Pender Island
Beaumont Marine Park (GINPR): 80 species since 1989 (eBird)
Brooks Point Regional Park (CRD): 155 species since 1998 (eBird)
Greenburn Lake (GINPR): 110 species since 2004 (eBird)
Mount Norman Summit (GINPR): 89 species since 2007 (eBird)
Salt Spring Island
Mount Maxwell Park (BC Parks): 88 species since 1996 (eBird)
Mount Erskine Park (BC Parks): 75 species since 2015 (eBird)
Reginald Hill (SSIPARC/CRD): 57 species since 2023 (eBird)
Ruckle Park (BC Parks): 155 species since 1979 (eBird)
W̱EN,NÁ,NEĆ Tsawout First Nations Trail: 63 species since 2024 (eBird)
Mayne Island
Campbell Point (GINPR)/Bennett Bay: 140 species since 2018 (eBird)
Georgina Point Heritage Park & Lighthouse (GINPR): 98 species since 2003 (eBird)
Mount Parke (CRD): 81 species seen since 1996 (eBird)
St. John Point Regional Park (CRD): 64 species seen since 2023 (eBird)
Saturna Island
Xwiwxwyus (kwik-wi-us)/Winter Cove (GINPR): 143 species since 1973 (eBird)
Brown Ridge (GINPR/Campbell Farm): 88 species since 1973 (eBird)
East Point Whale Trail/East Point Regional Park (GINPR/CRD): 164 species since 1989 (eBird)
Narvaez Bay (GINPR): 107 species since 2013 (eBird)
Galiano Island
Bellhouse Park (BC Parks): 105 species since 2007 (eBird)
Gray Point Trail/Montague Harbour Marine Park (BC Parks): 129 species since 1970 (eBird)
Mount Galiano Nature Preserve: 68 species since 2005 (eBird)
Matthews Point Regional Park (CRD): 79 species since 2010 (eBird)
The Viewpoint Trail/The Bluffs (Galiano Club & GIPRC): 102 species seen since 1990 (eBird)
Inner Gulf Islands
Portland Island (GINPR): 134 species since 2002 (eBird)
Russell Island (GINPR): 80 species since 2009 (eBird)
Isle-de-Lis/Rum Island Trail (GINPR): 67 species since 2015 (eBird)
Mandarte Island bird research station (IBA Canada site): 107 species since 1960 (eBird)
CRD - Capital Regional District, GINPR - Gulf Islands National Park Reserve, PIPRC - Pender Islands Parks & Recreation Commission, SSIPARC - Salt Spring Island Parks, Arts, Recreation & Culture, MIPRC - Mayne Island Parks & Recreation Commission, SIPRC - Saturna Island Parks & Recreation Commission, GIPRC - Galiano Island Parks & Recreation Commission.
Counting Birds in the SGI for the National Audubon Society Bird Count
Excerpt from A 2025 Christmas Bird Count Full of Surprises
“The official Audubon count area that contains the Mayne Island count includes Saturna, North Pender, and South Pender islands. The official list submitted for our count area is a compilation of counts from each of these islands. For this year’s count the four islands tallied 91 species and 9,838 individual birds. Collectively we had 118 birders out on count day who logged just over 187 hours (this includes feeder counters) and 229 kilometres on foot, by car, or by boat to observe birds.”
Black Oystercatcher Resources (and great pictures, videos, audio)
British Columbia Breeding Bird Atlas: Black Oystercatcher
Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s All About Birds: Black Oystercatcher
Birds of Southwestern British Columbia (7th printing) by Richard Cannings • Paperback • $19.95 • 432 pages • Harbour Publishing, 2008. Covers more than 200 bird species in a handy, portable guide; aimed at beginning and intermediate birders.
Merlin • Merlin is a smartphone bird app created by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology; it provides birders with the ability to Identify Bird Songs and Calls, Identify Birds in a Photo, Save Birds to Your Life List, and Explore Lists of Birds Near You using your cell phone. Watch the See How Merlin Can Help You ID Birds demo video below for an introduction to this amazing bird-ID assist tool.
