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BTO Blueline
OYSTERCATCHER
Haematopus ostralegus

Oystercatcher © Tommy Holden
 
Conservation listings
Europe: no SPEC category (concentrated in Europe, conservation status favourable)
UK: amber (>20% of European breeding population, >20% of East Atlantic Flyway population in winter, localised wintering population)
Long-term trend
UK: rapid increase
Distribution maps
Maps and statistics from British and Irish
atlases can be viewed here.
Status summary
Oystercatchers increased along linear waterways between 1974 and 1986, as the species colonised inland sites across England and Wales (Gibbons et al. 1993). Thereafter, the WBS index stabilised, so showing a pattern parallel to that in winter abundance revealed by WeBS (Pollitt et al. 2003). BBS data since 1994, which include birds in a broader range of locations and habitats, show increase in England but decline in Scotland, and a decline overall. The increase in nest failure rates for the 27-day egg stage (25 days for incubation and 2 days for laying) probably results from the spread of the species into less favourable areas. The trend towards earlier laying can be partly explained by recent climate change (Crick & Sparks 1999).
WBS UK graph
Table of population changes for Oystercatcher
Source Period
(yrs)		 Years Plots
(n)		 Change
(%)		 Lower
limit		 Upper
limit		 Alert Comment
WBS waterways 27 1975-2002 23 103 50 164    
  25 1977-2002 23 73 38 123    
  10 1992-2002 30 4 -11 28    
  5 1997-2002 27 -1 -14 19    
BBS UK 9 1994-2003 237 -14 -23 -5    
BBS England 9 1994-2003 110 35 13 60    
BBS Scotland 9 1994-2003 116 -23 -34 -10    
BBS acknowledgement
BBS UK graph
BBS England graph
BBS Scotland graph
Table of productivity information for Oystercatcher
Variable Period
(yrs)		 Years Mean
annual
sample		 Trend Predicted
in first year		 Predicted
in last year		 Change Comment
Clutch size 34 1968-2002 102 None        
Daily failure rate (eggs) 34 1968-2002 109 Linear increase 0.0136 nests/day 0.0194 nests/day 0.0058 nests/day  
Laying date 34 1968-2002 45 Linear decline day 138 day 129 -9 days  
 
Clutch size graph
Insufficient data on brood size
available for this species
Egg nest failure graph
Insufficient data on nestling failure
available for this species
Laying date graph
Insufficient data on CES
available for this species
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This report should be cited as:
Baillie, S.R., Marchant, J.H., Crick, H.Q.P., Noble, D.G., Balmer, D.E., Beaven, L.P., Coombes, R.H.,
Downie, I.S., Freeman, S.N., Joys, A.C., Leech, D.I., Raven, M.J., Robinson, R.A. and Thewlis, R.M. (2005)
Breeding Birds in the Wider Countryside: their conservation status 2004.
BTO Research Report No. 385. BTO, Thetford. (http://www.bto.org/birdtrends)

Pages maintained by Susan Waghorn and Iain Downie: Last updated 18 January, 2006