It has striking black and white plumage, a long straight orange-red bill, red eyes and relatively short dull pink legs.

The Eurasian oystercatcher was listed by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Haemotopus ostralegus.

[4][5] William Yarrell in 1843 established this as the preferred term, replacing the older name sea pie.

[10] It is an obvious and noisy plover-like bird, with black and white plumage, pink legs and a strong broad red bill used for smashing or prising open molluscs such as mussels or for finding earthworms.

The subspecies longipes has distinctly brownish upperparts and the nasal groove extends more than halfway along the bill.

Beginning after the last egg is laid, they are incubated by both parents and hatch synchronously after 24–27 days.

Because of its large numbers and readily identified behaviour, the oystercatcher is an important indicator species for the health of the ecosystems where it congregates.

Extensive long-term studies have been carried out on its foraging behaviour in northern Germany, the Netherlands, and particularly on the River Exe estuary in south-west England.

[17] These studies form an important part of the foundation for the modern discipline of behavioural ecology.