The sooty oystercatcher (''Haematopus fuliginosus'') is a species of

oystercatcher The oystercatchers are a group of waders forming the family Haematopodidae, which has a single genus, ''Haematopus''. They are found on coasts worldwide apart from the polar regions and some tropical regions of Africa and South East Asia. The e ...

. It is a wading bird

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and commonly found on its

coastline The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in n ...

. It prefers rocky coastlines, but will occasionally live in estuaries. All of its feathers are black. It has a red eye, eye ring and bill, and pink legs.

Taxonomy

John Gould John Gould (; 14 September 1804 – 3 February 1881) was an English ornithologist. He published a number of monographs on birds, illustrated by plates produced by his wife, Elizabeth Gould, and several other artists, including Edward Lear, ...

described the sooty oystercatcher in 1845. Its species name is the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

adjective ''fuliginosus'', "sooty". Two subspecies are recognised, the nominate from the coastline of southern Australia and subspecies ''ophthalmicus'' from northern Australia. The southern subspecies is larger and heavier than the northern. The northern one, with a more yellowish eye ring, is found from the Kimberleys across the top of the country to Mackay in central Queensland. There is considerable overlap, as the southern subspecies has been found up to Cape York. Subspecies ''ophthalmicus'' has been thought distinctive enough to warrant species status and needs further investigation. Black redbill is a local name.

Description

Measuring long with a bill length of , the sooty oystercatcher has all black plumage, with pink-red legs and scarlet or orange-red bill and eyes. The heaviest of all oystercatchers, the sooty oystercatcher weighs up to , averaging around , with females larger and heavier in both subspecies. Males have shorter, thicker bills and females have longer, thinner bills. The 19% average difference in length is the most marked of any oystercatcher species. Immature birds have grey-brown legs, a bill tipped with brown, a browner cast to their plumage, and brown eyes. The bill, eyes and legs become red by the second year.

Distribution and habitat

Preferring rocky shores, the sooty oystercatcher is endemic to Australia. There are an estimated 11,500 individuals, 4000 of the nominate race and 7500 of the northern race. It is common around the Tasmanian coastline and Bass Strait islands. However it is declared Rare in South Australia and Queensland, Near Threatened in Victoria and Endangered in New South Wales.

Feeding

The sooty oystercatcher almost always forages in the intertidal zone, for the two hours either side of low tide. A field study published in 2011 showed that prey items differed markedly between the sexes with only a 36% overlap. Females focussed on soft-bodied prey which they could swallow whole such as fish, crabs, bluebottle jellyfish and various worm-like creatures such as cunjevoi, while males preferred hard-shelled prey such as mussels (''

Mytilus planulatus Mytilus may refer to: * Mytilus of Illyria Mytilos or Mytilus ( grc, Μύτιλος; la, Mytilus; ruled 270231 BC) was an Illyrian king who reigned in southern Illyria, around the hinterland of Dyrrhachion and Apollonia. He was the successo ...

''), sea urchins, turban shells (''

Lunella undulata ''Lunella undulata'', common name the common warrener or the lightning turban, is a species of sea snail, marine gastropod mollusk in the family Turbinidae. Description The size of the shell varies between 33 mm and 75 mm. The solid, ...

'' and ''

Lunella torquata ''Lunella torquata'', common name the twisted necklace, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Turbinidae, the turban snails. Description The length of the shell varies between 35 mm and 110 mm. The large, ...

''), and black periwinkle (''

Nerita atramentosa ''Nerita atramentosa'', common name the black nerite, is a medium-sized sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Neritidae, the nerites. There has been some confusion over the taxonomy of the genus ''Nerita'' in the Pacific regio ...

'').

Breeding

A clutch of two to three eggs is laid in a crevice in rocks or small hollow or flat on the ground, often on an island or high place where parent birds can keep watch. Tapered oval in shape, the eggs are buff to beige with dark brown and lavender dots and splotches and measure long by wide.*

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q1006679

sooty oystercatcher The sooty oystercatcher (''Haematopus fuliginosus'') is a species of oystercatcher. It is a wading bird endemic to Australia and commonly found on its coastline. It prefers rocky coastlines, but will occasionally live in estuaries. All of its fea ...

Endemic birds of Australia

Articles containing video clips Taxa named by John Gould