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BTO Blueline
OYSTERCATCHER
Haematopus ostralegus

Oystercatcher © Tommy Holden
 

• Population
  changes

• Productivity
  trends

• Additional
  information
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
UK population size
113,000 (98,500–127,000) pairs in 1985–99 (O'Brien 2005: BiE04, APEP06)
Status summary
Oystercatchers increased along linear waterways between 1974 and about 1986, as the species colonised inland sites across England and Wales (Gibbons et al. 1993). Thereafter, the WBS index stabilised, so showing a pattern similar to that in winter abundance revealed by WeBS (Banks et al. 2006). Surveys in England and Wales revealed an increase of 47% in breeding birds in wet meadows between 1982 and 2002 (Wilson et al. 2005). BBS data since 1994, which include birds in a broader range of locations and habitats, show strong increase in England but apparently a significant decline in Scotland. 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 habitats, where predation or trampling may be more likely. The trend towards earlier laying can be partly explained by recent climate change (Crick & Sparks 1999).
 

Population changes
WBS UK graph
 
Table of population changes for Oystercatcher

Source Period
(yrs)		 Years Plots
(n)		 Change
(%)		 Lower
limit		 Upper
limit		 Alert Comment
WBS waterways 30 1975-2005 23 122 78 213    
  25 1980-2005 24 55 24 126    
  10 1995-2005 27 10 -5 45    
  5 2000-2005 23 7 0 26    
BBS UK 10 1995-2005 263 -9 -18 -1    
  5 2000-2005 283 -2 -9 6    
BBS England 10 1995-2005 130 46 23 75    
  5 2000-2005 151 25 9 39    
BBS Scotland 10 1995-2005 121 -19 -28 -10    
  5 2000-2005 116 -7 -17 1    

BBS acknowledgement
 
BBS UK graph
BBS England graph
BBS Scotland graph
 

Productivity trends
Table of productivity changes for Oystercatcher

Variable Period
(yrs)		 Years Mean
annual
sample		 Trend Modelled
in first year		 Modelled
in 2005		 Change Comment
Clutch size 37 1968-2005 100 None        
Daily failure rate (eggs) 37 1968-2005 109 Linear increase 1.25% nests/day 2.29% nests/day 83.2%  
Laying date 37 1968-2005 46 Linear decline May 17 May 10 -7 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
 

Additional information
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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., Barimore, C., Coombes, R.H.,
Downie, I.S., Freeman, S.N., Joys, A.C., Leech, D.I., Raven, M.J., Robinson, R.A. & Thewlis, R.M. (2007)
Breeding Birds in the Wider Countryside: their conservation status 2007.
BTO Research Report No. 487. BTO, Thetford. (http://www.bto.org/birdtrends)

Pages maintained by Susan Waghorn and Iain Downie: Last updated 3 January, 2008