As the Eurasian oystercatcher is a migratory species they only occur as a vagrant in southern Africa, and its black-and-white plumage makes confusion impossible.

Its breeding range extends from Lüderitz, Namibia to Mazeppa Bay, Eastern Cape, South Africa.

[1][9] Typically sedentary African oystercatchers rarely leave their territories, which include a nesting site and feeding grounds.

[12] They are adapted to pry open mussels and loosen limpets off the rocks but have been recorded picking through sand to locate other food items.

The nest is a bare scrape on pebbles, sand or shingle within about 30 metres (98 ft) of the high-water mark.

[1] Offshore pairs experience similar avian predation although most chicks perish due to starvation.