Mallacoota Birds: Pied Oystercatcher

Bird of the Month: Australian Pied Oystercatcher June 2021

On a tan beach, steely blue waves crashing behind, they look immaculate, distinguished, unruffled by the constant wind and cold. Their dress code for every occasion is Black Tie, and they wear it well. The plain, spotless black and white plumage is accented by a fluorescent vermillion beak, matching eye and pale pink legs.

Australian Pied Oystercatchers are one of the largest of shorebirds, and unlike many other shorebirds, they are resident year round. They also form long-term pairs, and put a lot of time and effort into caring for their chicks, which is unusual amongst shorebirds.

They are such good parents that you don’t often see oystercatcher chicks – the parents hide them well, and defend them very strongly.

Many of them are banded, and it is very interesting to follow the progress of a known bird, like Yellow 85, who was first banded at Barry Beach, Corner Inlet VIC in 2010. This bird was seen around Corner Inlet until 2013, but made at least one visit to Wonboyn NSW in 2010. Then in late 2013 it made a journey to southern NSW, where it was recorded twice. By 2015 it was seen at Mallacoota, and has only been recorded there since. See table below – most entries are from the Australasian Wader Studies Group (AWSG), entries in blue are from the Mallacoota Birds facebook group or eBird photographs.

Yellow 85
YEAR	DATE	LOCATION & OBSERVER
2010	14 August	Barry Beach, Corner Inlet VIC
2010	12 November	Wonboyn Beach NSW
2011	15 February	Barry Beach, Corner Inlet VIC
2011	17 June	Barry Beach, Corner Inlet VIC
2013	23 July	Barry Beach, Corner Inlet VIC
2013	15 October	Merimbula NSW
2013	12 December	Wonboyn Beach NSW
2015	30 August	Quarry Beach, Mallacoota VIC
2016	24 June	Mallacoota VIC
2016	13 November	Mallacoota VIC
2017	24 May	Quarry Beach, Mallacoota VIC
2018	11 May	Davis Beach, Mallacoota VIC
2018	16 June	Tip Beach, Mallacoota VIC LW
2018	26 July	Quarry Beach, Mallacoota VIC MB
2018	21 September	Pebbly Beach, Mallacoota VIC JL
2018	22 October	Mallacoota VIC
2018	26 December	Quarry Beach, Mallacoota VIC
2020	4 January	Mallacoota VIC
2020	30 March	Quarry Beach, Mallacoota VIC MB
2020	26 May	Quarry Beach, Mallacoota VIC MB
2020	27 June	Mallacoota VIC
2020	20 July	Mallacoota VIC
2021	29 May	Bastion Point, Mallacoota VIC MB

More details here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1BxNqHOipCtWDnMy_JE9zPq2-7GCRPN0RsuPAE1LtFKU/

If you see a banded bird please report it to the AWSG here: https://vhost2009.hosted-sites.deakin.edu.au/importing/import.php

Having a quick look through eBird, I’ve found quite a few banded birds around the area, including:
Yellow 9A Bastion Pt 29/5/21 MB; 26/5/20 Quarry Beach MB, 30/3/20 Quarry Beach MB – AWSG has 12 records of this bird, nearly all at Mallacoota
Yellow 9N Betka Beach 13/9/16 by Michael Preston.
Yellow JJ Bastion Pt 29/5/21 MB, Quarry Beach 4/9/18 MB – AWSG has 7 records of this bird, most at Mallacoota
Yellow SL 30/3/20 Quarry Beach MB
Yellow 57 4/6/20 at Big Beach Mallacoota by Martin Butterfield – AWSG has 10 records of this bird, most at Mallacoota.

Elsewhere in East Gippsland:
Yellow 81 Point Hicks 3/7/19 by Drew Stevens
Yellow AW Snowy River Mouth 17/11/16 by Aiden Worseldine

Yellow 113 Raymond Island 11/11/18 by Martin Maderthaner
Yellow 137 Raymond Island 11/11/20 by Lance Rathbone
Yellow 167 Raymond Island 15/11/17 by Bruce McKinlay
Yellow MA Raymond Island 10/10/17 by Caroline Jones

Yellow 9P Lake Tyers Beach 27/2/17 by Jack Winterbottom
Yellow HR Lake Tyers Beach 6/6/21 by Rob Clay
Yellow C4 Lakes Entrance 26/4/18 by Ken Crawley
Yellow ZZ Lakes Entrance 31/10/20 by Colin Trainor
Red 45 Raymond Island 20/11/20 by Lance Rathbone

Martin has more details on some of these birds here: https://mallacootaweatherwildlife.blogspot.com/2020/06/movements-of-banded-pied-oystercatchers.html

Pied Oystercatchers often suffer from entanglement in fishing line and other non-natural fibres. This scourge sometimes results in the loss of a foot or loss of life, and a lot of pain and suffering. Birds with entangled feet are very difficult to catch, as they become very wary and will fly off at the slightest attention. Please, if you see fishing line on the beach, remove it.

John Hutchison has some information about an entangled Pied Oystercatcher he saw at Booderee NSW here: http://avithera.blogspot.com/2017/09/pied-oystercatcher-ex-ex-one-foot.html

You can tell males from females. Females have black flecks in their iris near the pupil, which makes their pupil look bigger, and more oval-shaped than the male’s. She also has a longer bill, that can have a more tapered shape.

These features are best seen when two birds are together, or on very high quality photos.

John also has some amazing pictures of Pied Oystercatchers mating here: http://avithera.blogspot.com/2017/06/bega-river-entrance-tathra-nsw.html

Lastly, if anyone sees a very short Pied Oystercatcher please take photos and let us know. There is a New Zealand species – the South Island Pied Oystercatcher (SIPO) that looks a lot like ours, and one or two visit from time to time. SIPO has shorter legs, a longer bill and more white on the back and wings than our Pied Oystercatchers.
SIPO has not been recorded in East Gippsland yet, but has been seen at Stockyard Point near French Island and at Mossy Point near Moruya NSW – so maybe it’s just a matter of time??

LISTEN TO THE CALLS and scroll through to see lots of great pics here: https://ebird.org/species/pieoys1?siteLanguage=en_AU

Details: Australian Pied Oystercatcher Haematopus longirostris

Location: pretty much the whole coastline of Australia.

Conservation status/learn more: Secure through most of Australia, but endangered in NSW. https://birdlife.org.au/bird-profile/australian-pied-oystercatcher

Thanks to Caroline Jones, Jack Winterbottom, John Hutchison, Michael Barnett & Gregory Storer, Martin Maderthaner and Martin Butterfield for your wonderful pics and information.