h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Oystercatchers are very distinctive wading birds, with black and white plumage, a bright orange-red bill and dark pink legs. Although you might think from their name that their main food is oysters, they more often eat cockles and mussels. They also eat worms and crabs.

In winter these birds flock together and feed in the shallow water on the coastline where the tide has receded, like in this photo A87922083 . Oystercatchers' winter plumage is slightly different from their summer plumage - they have a white band on their otherwise-black neck during the colder months of the year.

In flocks, they can make a lot of noise, with their high-pitched 'eep eep' call able to be heard from some distance away. They make nests on the ground so are vulnerable to being disturbed during the breeding season. They were also once persecuted, especially in South Wales, for eating cockles that could be sold commercially, but their population has recovered since then. The oldest Oystercatcher known to the RSPB was 43 years old.