Perhaps oystercatchers used to eat mainly oysters, but the ones we know nowadays prefer mussels and cockles. And even jellyfish! Actually, they either live along the shores of tidal flats and eat mostly bivalves, or they have adapted to meadows and eat worms and insect larvae. They are busy birds, dribbling and chatting among themselves with a typical te-peet, te-peet sound. They are easy to recognize at night as they communicate among themselves while flying overhead. During the day, oystercatchers are easy to identify by their black and white plumage and orange bill. The bivalve consumers have very strong bills, being the wader to open a thick cockle.