There is a pied oystercatcher and a plain black one. In Auckland, we mostly see the pied one, which is black on top, with white on the lower part of its body. An oystercatcher is a wading bird, and it wades about in the shallow water of mudflats, picking up small shellfish and crabs with its long orange beak. They mostly stay in big groups together as they wade about feeding. Their strong beaks can make a hole in shells to reach the shellfish inside. They lay eggs in a nest that is a hollow scraped out of the ground.