Resident breeder on Falkland Islands where it is widely distributed along coasts. Black plumage with deep orange-red bill and eye ring and a yellow iris. Length: 40-46 cm (16- 18 inches). Pink legs and feet.

Blackish oystercatchers prefer rocky shores and are more solitary than the Magellanic oystercatchers. They feeds on hard-shelled molluscs, particularly mussels but take a wide variety of invertebrates off the shore. They vigorously defend their territories in th breeding season.

H. ater is resident right down the west coast of South America from 7°S in Peru through the Magellanic islands and Cape Horn to the Falklands and up the east coast of South America as far Sas the River Plate.

Sources include: Falkland Islands State of the Environment Report 2008 Otley H, Munro G, Clausen A, Ingham B. A Field Guide to the Wildlife of The Falkland Islands and South Georgia - Ian J Strange, Guide to Birds of the Falkland Islands- Robin W. Woods.

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