Habits
Singly or in pairs, occasionally in small flocks.
Food
Small molluscs, crustaceans and other marine animals.
Voice
A brisk, ringing, 'kier-'kier-'kier-'kier-'kier...' or 'kwi-keer, kwi-keer' usually uttered in flight. Also a musical, twittering and piping in courtship.
Nest
A shallow depression in sand, lined with herbage including grass, seaweed and coral fragments or broken shells, usually on islands and reefs, often on a grass covered ledge, above the water line.
Eggs (Guide)
2 - 4, usually 2; olive-grey, suffused with dark brown and purple blotches; oval; about 64 x 43 mm. Incubation: about 25 - 27 days; by both sexes.
Young
Precocial, nidifugous. Fledge in about 100 - 200 days.
Subspecies
Occasional hybridization recorded with Pied Oystercatcher (Haematopus longirostris). Form opthalmicus generally considered to be a subspecies of Pied Oystercatcher (Haematopus longirostris), but striking differences in eye-ring colour suggest that it may well be a distinct species.
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
fuliginosus Gould, 1845 - Roughly south of the Tropic of Capricorn.
opthalmicus Castelnau and Ramsay, 1877 - Coasts and islands of northern Australia (Shark Bay to Lady Elliot I.).
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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