Oystercatchers are striking, black and white wading birds with long bright red bills. Their bill is used to break into shellfish, and each individual inherits a particular technique from its parents. Despite the name, oystercatchers are not known to eat oysters and in fact favour mussels. They supplement this specialised diet of hard-shelled molluscs with softer-bodied invertebrates, such as crustaceans, worms and insects. Oystercatcherd are primarily shorebirds, although they do sometimes breed inland by rivers and lochs. They are more usually found at the coast during the winter.

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