The Canary Islands oystercatcher, Canarian oystercatcher, or Canarian black oystercatcher (Haematopus meadewaldoi), was a shorebird of uncertain taxonomy endemic to Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, and their offshore islets (Islote de Lobos and the Chinijo Archipelago) in the Canary Islands, Spain. It is now considered to be extinct. The Canary Islands oystercatcher has had a complicated taxonomic history. Though it was long known to naturalists, it was considered a mere local population or subspecies of the African oystercatcher (Haematopus moquini) until 1913; these two were at the time occasionally lumped as subspecies of the Eurasian oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus). Hockey (1982) concluded that the Canary Islands oystercatcher was actually a full species, distinct from the African oystercatcher. However, DNA analyses conducted in 2018 and published in 2019 concluded that the Canary Islands oystercatcher was most likely a subspecies of the common Eurasian oystercatcher. Taxonomy The Canary Islands oystercatcher was long considered a population of the African oystercatcher until 1913, when David Armitage Bannerman identified it as the unique subspecies H. m. meadewaldoi. A study in 1982, however, found the Canary Islands oystercatcher to be distinct enough from the African oystercatcher to be upgraded to be its own species. In 2018, a genetic study of the Canary Islands oystercatcher's mitogenome found it to be genetically nearly identical to the Eurasian oystercatcher, with its genetic differentiation falling well within the range in variation observed in the Eurasian oystercatcher. It has thus been proposed that H. meadewaldoi be reclassified as either a melanistic color morph or subspecies of the Eurasian oystercatcher. Ornithological committees such as the International Ornithological Congress and BirdLife International need to decide whether or not to downgrade the species. Description The Canary Islands oystercatcher was of similar size as its relatives, the African and Eurasian oystercatchers, or about 40–45 cm (around 16.5 in); comparing with the non-migratory African species, it probably weighed between 600-800 grams in life, with females being slightly heavier. Its bill was some 70-80mm long in males and markedly longer (around 80mm) in females; the tarsus measured around 50 mm, and the wings were around 250-265mm long, with males possibly at the upper range of that size. Its appearance was extremely similar to the African species, to the extent that even hand-held specimens can hardly be told apart except by direct comparison or measurements. Its bill was longer and its wings were shorter than in the African species, which is not