Twelve, see table The oystercatchers are a group of waders forming the family Haematopodidae, which has a single genus, Haematopus.

[4] The family Haematopodidae was introduced (as the subfamily Haematopodinae) by the French naturalist Charles Bonaparte in 1838.

[5][6] The common name oystercatcher was coined by Mark Catesby in 1731 for the North American species H. palliatus, which he described as eating oysters.

They are large, obvious, and noisy plover-like birds, with massive long orange or red bills used for smashing or prying open molluscs.

[1] The diet of coastal oystercatchers is more varied, although dependent upon coast type; on estuaries, bivalves, the ivygastropods and polychaete worms are the most important part of the diet, whereas rocky shore oystercatchers prey upon limpets, mussels, gastropods, and chitons.

A single nesting attempt is made per breeding season, which is timed over the summer months.

The nests of oystercatchers are simple affairs, scrapes in the ground which may be lined, and placed in a spot with good visibility.

There has been conflict with commercial shellfish farmers, but studies have found that the impact of oystercatchers is much smaller than that of shore crabs.