Image of Variable Oystercatcher

Description:

Variable Oystercatcher (Haematopus unicolor). Not a great shot, but a life bird is a life bird. :-) Endemic to New Zealand. Despite the scientific name, it also occurs in a pied morph with a white belly, and in gradations in between. The pied morph is similar to H. ostralegus (I'm using the scientific name to avoid confusion -- apparently Kiwis call ostralegus the Pied Oystercatcher, but Clemens uses Pied for H. longirostris and calls H. ostralegus the Eurasian Oystercatcher). But side by side they were easy to tell apart by the larger size & build of the former. Guide lists these as uncommon, so I guess we were lucky to find them. Certainly perfect habitat, tho!