Haematopus

Eurasian oystercatchers Haematopus ostralegus, copyright Bjørn Christian Tørrissen.

Belongs within: Charadriiformes.

Haematopus, the oystercatchers, are a cosmopolitan genus of primarily coastal birds that feed in loose flocks. Oystercatchers have black and white or all black plumage, a very long, straight reddish bill, a squat body and pinkish-red legs. The Eurasian oystercatcher H. ostralegus of Eurasia and northern Africa has a black head and neck, black upperparts and predominantly white underparts.

<==Haematopus Linnaeus 1758 [=Ostralega Brisson 1760; Haematopodidae, Haematopodinae, Ostralegidae] CC10
    |  i. s.: H. fuliginosus Gould 1845 [incl. H. unicolor bernieri Mathews 1912] WS48
    |           |--H. f. fuliginosus M03
    |           `--H. f. ophthalmicus M03
    |         H. longirostris (Vieillot 1817) CC10 [=H. ostralegus longirostris WS48; incl. H. picatus King 1826 CC10]
    |         H. meadewaldoi [=H. ostralegus meadewaldoi] CG99
    |         H. moquini JT12
    |         H. niger Pallas 1811 CC10
    |         H. sulcatus (Brodkorb 1955) U93
    |--+--*H. ostralegus Linnaeus 1758 CC10, JT12, CC10 [=*Ostralega ostralega CC10]
    |  `--+--H. chathamensis Hartert 1927 JT12, CC10 (see below for synonymy)
    |     `--+--H. finschi Martens 1897 JT12, CC10 [=H. ostralegus finschi CC10]
    |        `--H. unicolor Forster in Lichtenstein 1844 JT12, CC10 (see below for synonymy)
    `--+--H. leucopodus JT12
       `--+--H. ater Vieillot & Oudart 1825 JT12, ME04
          `--+--H. bachmani JT12
             `--H. palliatus JT12

Haematopus chathamensis Hartert 1927 JT12, CC10 [=H. ostralegus chathamensis CC10, H. longirostris chathamensis CC10, H. unicolor chathamensis CC10]

Haematopus unicolor Forster in Lichtenstein 1844 JT12, CC10 [=H. niger unicolor CC10, H. ostralegus unicolor CC10; incl. H. niger Ellman 1861 non Pallas 1811 CC10, H. oceanicus Bonaparte 1856 CC10, H. reischeki Rothschild 1899 CC10, H. unicolor reischeki CC10]

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[CG99] Carlton, J. T., J. B. Geller, M. L. Reaka-Kudla & E. A. Norse. 1999. Historical extinctions in the sea. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 30: 315–338.

[CC10] Checklist Committee (OSNZ). 2010. Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand, Norfolk and Macquarie Islands, and the Ross Dependency, Antarctica 4^th ed. Ornithological Society of New Zealand and Te Papa Press: Wellington.

[JT12] Jetz, W., G. H. Thomas, J. B. Joy, K. Hartmann & A. Ø. Mooers. 2012. The global diversity of birds in space and time. Nature 491: 444–448.

[ME04] Mayr, G., & P. G. P. Ericson. 2004. Evidence for a sister group relationship between the Madagascan mesites (Mesitornithidae) and the cuckoos (Cuculidae). Senckenbergiana Biologica 84 (1–2): 1–17.

[M03] Morcombe, M. 2003. Field Guide to Australian Birds 2^nd ed. Steve Parish Publishing.

[U93] Unwin, D. M. 1993. Aves. In: Benton, M. J. (ed.) The Fossil Record 2 pp. 717–737. Chapman & Hall: London.

[WS48] Whittell, H. M., & D. L. Serventy. 1948. A systematic list of the birds of Western Australia. Public Library, Museum and Art Gallery of Western Australia, Special Publication 1: 1–126.