Haematopus

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. fuliginosusM03
    |           `--H. f. ophthalmicusM03
    |         H. longirostris (Vieillot 1817)CC10 [=H. ostralegus longirostrisWS48; incl. H. picatus King 1826CC10]
    |         H. meadewaldoi [=H. ostralegus meadewaldoi]CG99
    |         H. moquiniJT12
    |         H. niger Pallas 1811CC10
    |         H. osculansS05
    |         H. sulcatus (Brodkorb 1955)U93
    |--+--*H. ostralegus Linnaeus 1758CC10, JT12, CC10 (see below for synonymy)
    |  `--+--H. chathamensis Hartert 1927JT12, CC10 (see below for synonymy)
    |     `--+--H. finschi Martens 1897JT12, CC10 [=H. ostralegus finschiCC10]
    |        `--H. unicolor Forster in Lichtenstein 1844JT12, CC10 (see below for synonymy)
    `--+--H. leucopodusJT12
       `--+--H. ater Vieillot & Oudart 1825JT12, ME04
          `--+--H. bachmaniJT12
             `--H. palliatusJT12

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

*Haematopus ostralegus Linnaeus 1758^{CC10, JT12, CC10} [=Haemantopus ostralegus^F17, Haematopus ostreologus^S05, *Ostralega ostralega^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.

[F17] Forster, T. 1817. A synoptical catalogue of British birds; intended to identify the species mentioned by different names in several catalogues already extant. Forming a book of reference to observations on British ornithology. Nichols, Son, and Bentley: London.

[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.

[S05] Schalow, H. 1905. Die Vögel der Arktis. In: Römer, F., & F. Schaudinn (eds) Fauna Arctica. Eine Zusammenstellun der arktischen Tierformen, mit besonder Berücksichtigung des Spitzbergen-Gebietes auf Grund der Ergebnisse der Deutschen Expedition in das Nördliche Eismeer im Jahre 1898 vol. 4 pp. 79–288. Gustav Fischer: Jena.

[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.