Pied Oystercatcher (Haematopus longirostris)

Large. Medium, straight bill. Sexes alike.

Adults: Upperparts, throat, breast, black. Belly, rump, white. Eyering, red. Eye, red. Broad, short, angled white wingbar visible in flight. Underwing primaries and secondaries, black. Axillaries, white. Bill, red. Legs, red.

Immatures: Like adult but black parts have brownish edges. Legs are paler.

Other Names (World)
Pied Oystercatcher, Australian Pied Oystercatcher, White-breasted Oystercatcher, Seapie, Redbill, Eugerie-bird, Wongbird

Family
Haematopodidae (Oystercatchers)

Size
42 - 51 cm

First Described (Guide)
Vieillot, 1817

Derivation
Hae-mat'-o-pus - Gk, haimatos, blood; Gk, pous, foot: lon-gi-ros'-tris - L., longus, long: L., rostrum, bill

Abundance (Guide)
C

Common on the coasts, vagrant inland.

Habitat
Seashores, undisturbed beaches and sand-spits, tidal mudflats and estuaries, occasionally reefs and rocky shores.

Range (Guide)

Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea.

Coastal Australia generally, including Tasmania.

Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.

Population
Estimated population is 11,000 (2010).

Status LC
Secure.

For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Habits
Singly or in pairs, occasionally in small flocks.

Food
Small molluscs, crustaceans and other marine animals.

Voice
A brisk, ringing, 'peepapeep, peepapeep' or 'kleep, kleep' usually uttered in flight. Also a musical, twittering and piping in courtship.

(6Kb) © ? (2)

Xeno-Canto Sound Files (more (22)...)

Pied Oystercatcher (Haematopus longirostris) [XC611137]
by nick talbot from Werribee Treatment Plant, Victoria, Australia (uncertain)

Pied Oystercatcher (Haematopus longirostris) [XC608802]
by Marc Anderson from Ansons Bay, Break O'Day Council, Tasmania, Australia (call)

Breeding Season (Guide)
October - January in the south and July - September in the north-west.

Nest
A depression in sand, usually on the shore above the high water mark.

Eggs (Guide)
2 or 3; grey-olive with dark brown spots; long-oval; about 59 x 41 mm. Incubation: 28 - 32 days; both sexes, but mainly female.

Young
Precocial, nidifugous. Fledge in 35 - 63 days.

Subspecies
Sometimes considered conspecific with Eurasian Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus). Occasional hybridization recorded with Sooty Oystercatcher (Haematopus fuliginosus). South Island Pied Oystercatcher (Haematopus finschi) is frequently considered to be subspecies of Pied Oystercatcher (Haematopus longirostris).

No subspecies.

Similar Species
South Island Pied Oystercatcher (Haematopus finschi)
Noticeably dumpier due to shorter legs. Bill is slightly longer, finer and orange, not red. Underwings are mostly white (black tips). In flight the white of rump and back form a clear triangle shape (as opposed to square). The broad, white, diagonal wingbar extends to the trailing edge of the inner secondaries.

South Island Pied Oystercatcher (Haematopus finschi) has currently only been recorded on NSW coast, Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands.

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References
See References.

The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9

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