 thumb|left|alt=texas city dike, texas| american oystercatcher thumb|left|juvenile the oystercatchers are a group of waders forming the family haematopodidae, which has a single genus, haematopus. they are found on coasts worldwide apart from the polar regions and some tropical regions of africa and south east asia. the exception to this is the eurasian oystercatcher and the south island oystercatcher, both of which breed inland, far inland in some cases. in the past there has been a great deal of confusion as to the species limits, with discrete populations of all black oystercatchers being afforded specific status but pied oystercatchers being considered one single species.hockey, p (1996) family haematopodidae (oystercatchers) in del hoyo, j.; elliot, a. & sargatal, j. (editors). (1996). handbook of the birds of the world. volume 3: hoatzin to auks. lynx edicions. isbn 84-87334-20-2 the name oystercatcher was coined by mark catesby in 1731 as a common name for the north american species h. palliatus, described as eating oysters. yarrell in 1843 established this as the preferred term, replacing the older name sea pie. ==appearance and habits== the different species of oystercatcher show little variation in shape or appearance. they range from  in length and  in wingspan. the eurasian oystercatcher is the lightest on average, at , while the sooty oystercatcher is the heaviest, at . the plumage of all species is either all-black, or black (or dark brown) on top and white underneath. the [[varia
Haematopodidae Shorebirds