Today this species is found mainly on the Pacific Coast of the U.S. and Canada. By the end of the century, the situation could be considerably more complex. Areas of suitable climate could open up far from the Black Oystercatcher’s present-day West Coast strongholds. Rising sea levels may play a particularly important role in determining oystercatcher distribution by century’s end. Conceivably, the Black and the American oystercatchers will come into more extensive contact as a result of climate change. There is already broad overlap between American and Black oystercatchers on the Pacific side of Baja (and some evidence that they may be interbreeding there).