Listen to the Eurasian oystercatcher
Tip: press play to see the sound's live frequency spectrum in blue over the waveform.
About the Eurasian oystercatcher
The Eurasian oystercatcher is a bird in the family Haematopodidae (order Charadriiformes). Its conservation status on the IUCN Red List is “near threatened”. Adults have a wingspan of about 82 cm and weigh around 518 g.
What does the Eurasian oystercatcher sound like?
Birds produce sound with the syrinx, a vocal organ deep in the chest that can make two independent sounds at once. Songs tend to be long and patterned and are used to hold territory and attract a mate; calls are short signals for contact, alarm and flight.
The recordings here are labelled as song and call. Listen for differences in rhythm, pitch and repetition – the spectrum display makes it easy to see whether a sound is a pure whistle (a thin line), a harsh call (a broad band) or a trill (rapid repeated marks).
From Wikipedia
The Eurasian oystercatcher or European oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus), also known as the common pied oystercatcher, or (in Europe) just oystercatcher, is a wader in the oystercatcher bird family Haematopodidae. It has striking black and white plumage, a long straight orange-red bill, red eyes and relatively short dull pink legs. The sexes are similar in appearance but the bill of the female is longer than that of the male.
It is the most widespread of the oystercatchers, with four subspecies breeding in western Europe, central Eurosiberia, Kamchatka, China, and the western coast of Korea. No other oystercatcher occurs within this area.
Related birds in the genus Haematopus
Frequently asked questions
What does an Eurasian oystercatcher sound like?
You can hear 5 recordings of the Eurasian oystercatcher on this page, including its song and call. Birds produce sound with the syrinx, a vocal organ deep in the chest that can make two independent sounds at once.
Is the Eurasian oystercatcher endangered?
The IUCN Red List classifies the Eurasian oystercatcher as “near threatened”.
What family does the Eurasian oystercatcher belong to?
The Eurasian oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus) belongs to the family Haematopodidae in the order Charadriiformes.
Sources & credits
- Song · Helsinki, Helsinki, Uusimaa, Finland by Olivier Grimm – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Song · Lies, Terschelling, Friesland, Netherlands by Pascal Christe – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Call, song · Lies, Terschelling, Friesland, Netherlands by Pascal Christe – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Call · Berkel en Rodenrijs, Lansingerland, Zuid-Holland… by Jochem verweij – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Austernfischer (Haematopus ostralegus) - Hjartarstaðir Guesthouse - 2022-07-15 00 43 17 by MVmath20 – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Wikidata Q25928 – CC0
- Wikipedia: Eurasian oystercatcher – CC BY-SA 4.0
- Photo by Andreas Trepte – CC BY-SA 2.5