[2] The scientific name commemorates the German ethnographer, naturalist and colonial explorer Friedrich Hermann Otto Finsch (8 August 1839 – 31 January 1917, Braunschweig).

Its breeding habitat comprises braided river systems, open paddocks, cultivated land, lake beaches, subalpine tundra, and herb fields.

Non-breeding habitat includes coastal estuaries, bays, beaches, sand flats, and intertidal mudflats.

[4] The flatworm Curtuteria australis is a parasite that infects South Island oystercatchers.

Larvae which infect cockles are eaten by the birds, which in turn lay eggs and are excreted by the oystercatchers.