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Australian Pied Oystercatcher (Haematopus longirostris) Alternate name(s): "Pied Oystercatcher", "White-breasted Oyster-catcher", "Black-and-white Oyster-catcher", "Seapie", "Olive", "Eugerie-bird", "Wongbird", "Redbill*", "Torea" Aboriginal name(s): "ngakurn ngakurn" [tjapwurrung]; "kornkorn" (WA) Size: 42-50 cm; wing span 72-91 cm Body mass: ca. 740 g (average)

Australia: Family Group 9 Family Group 9 Table Comb-crested Jacana Pheasant-tailed Jacana Bush Stone-curlew Beach Stone-curlew Banded Stilt Black-winged Stilt Red-necked Avocet Australian Pratincole Oriental Pratincole South Island Oystercatcher Australian Pied Oystercatcher Sooty Oystercatcher Pacific Golden Plover Grey Plover Little Ringed Plover Kentish Plover Red-capped Plover Double-banded Plover Semipalmated Plover Siberian Sand Plover Greater Sand Plover Oriental Plover Inland Dotterel Black-fronted Dotterel Red-kneed Dotterel Hooded Plover Masked Lapwing Banded Lapwing Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names Habitat pages Key plants Birds home page

Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Australian Pied Oystercatchers are medium-sized shorebirds. They have all black-and-white plumage. Head, neck and upperparts (mantle, wings and uppertail) are black, while the underparts (chest, belly, vent and underwing coverts) are white. The eye-rings and bill are bright red, while the legs and feet are pink. Juvenile Australian Pied Oystercatchers have mottled grey-brownish to black upperparts. Twitcher's tip South Island Oystercatchers have a comparatively longer bill and shorter, stouter legs than Australian Pied Oystercatchers. The correct identification of waders ("shorebirds"), e.g. of the Calidris, Tringa, Actitis and related families or of the Charadrius, Pluvialis and related genera in the field can be quite tricky. We have therefore made an attempt to give some advice HERE.

Taxonomy, classification See Australian Pied Oystercatcher at Wikipedia . Click here for classification information The Australian Pied Oystercatcher is no longer considered to be conspecific with the Eurasian Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus).

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Australian Pied Oystercatcher is available HERE . Australian Pied Oystercatchers are found only along the Australian seaboard, in eastern Indonesia and in southern New Guinea. Australian Pied Oystercatchers are found along the entire seaboard of Australia, including Torres Strait, Bass Strait and the entire coastline of Tasmania. They are not found anywhere inland. Australian Pied Oystercatchers hunt only in saline and brackish water along the coast, from estuaries to tidal flats, mudflats and sandy beaches. Where to look? How to find this species? Australian Pied Oystercatchers spend much of their time on sandy and muddy surfaces along the coastal fringe. They spend less time on rocky surfaces.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Australian Pied Oystercatchers were spotted and photographed by C. Kellenberg in April 2008, at Surfer's Paradise Point, QLD. Australian Pied Oystercatchers were first spotted by us at Myall Lakes NP, 50 km North of Newcastle, NSW, in June 2009. Subsequently, Australian Pied Oystercatchers have been found by us at various locations along the NSW coast, e.g. near Old Bar, NSW, in September 2011 and at the Urunga board walk, Urunga Heads in March 2015 and again in September 2016, when a ringed specimen was observed. Another ringed bird was found by us at Bundjalung NP, near Iluka, northern NSW, in February 2012. C. Pears reports finding Australian Pied Oystercatchers in Esperance, WA, in May 2011. Australian Pied Oystercatchers were found by D. Dyer at Ronsard Bay, Cervantes, WA, in July 2014. J. Greaves reports spotting Australian Pied Oystercatchers reegularly along the coastline of south-western WA, e.g. on a bank of the Swan River, Nedlands, Perth, WA, in April 2015, and the Peel Inlet, Coondanup, WA, in May 2015. M. Mearns reports spotting Australian Pied Oystercatchers on Lady Elliot Island, near Agnes Water, QLD, in January 2016. R. Plumtreespotted a ring-marked Australian Pied Oystercatcher at Metung, near Lakes Entrance, VIC, in June 2017. Another was found in November 2019. A. Allnutt found Australian Pied Oystercatchers nesting at the Wallaga Lake entrance near Bermagui, NSW, in December 2018. B. Hensen reports spotting a pair of Australian Pied Oystercatchers nesting at East Arm, Darwin, NT, in August 2013. P. Brown reports spotting Australian Pied Oystercatchers at Coconut Grove, Darwin, NT, in February 2019. M. Eaton found Australian Pied Oystercatchers at Adventure Bay, Bruny Island, TAS, in April 2021. Others were found nesting on Bribie Island, QLD, in August 2021, and at Paynesville, VIC, in April 2023. On the other side of the continent, M. Eaton spotted Australian Pied Oystercatchers at Campsite Beach, Roebuck Bay, near Broome, WA, in June 2026. C. Pears also reports finding Australian Pied Oystercatchers at Adventure Bay, Bruny Island, TAS, in January 2023.

Photos

ADULT

PAIR

Many bird species exhibit sexual dimorphism, i.e., male and female have differing appearances which can be quite subtle.
There are two ways of telling male and female Australian Pied Oystercatchers apart. When seeing a pair together, the length of the bill is the easiest diagnostic - the male, left, has a shorter bill than the female. Up close, one can also see that females have a black dot in the lower-front quadrant of the red iris that is absent in the male.

Lateral view of a pair of Australian Pied Oystercatchers, female on the left (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Coconut Grove, Darwin, NT, February 2019]

Lateral/near-dorsal view of a pair of Australian Pied Oystercatchers; the notably long bill of the bird at the far right indicates that it is a female

MALE

Near-frontal view of an Australian Pied Oystercatcher; the short bill and the absence of dark flecks in the iris indicate that this is a male (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Paynesville, VIC, April 2023]

Assuming that it does not have a stick up its backside, this is a close-up near-frontal view of a male Australian Pied Oystercatcher answering a call of nature
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bribie Island, QLD, August 2021]

Given how short the bills are, the two Australian Pied Oystercatchers in this photo are probably both males - one with significant damage to its bill (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[St. Helens, TAS, September 2024]

Close-up lateral view of a male Australian Pied Oystercatcher
[Old Bar, NSW, October 2023]

Lateral view of a male Australian Pied Oystercatcher (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Paynesville, VIC, April 2023]

Close-up near-dorsal view of a male(?) Australian Pied Oystercatcher (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Toorbul wader roost, Brisbane, QLD, January 2018]

Near-dorsal view of a male(?) Australian Pied Oystercatcher (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Sandy Creek, Casuarina Coastal Reserve, Darwin, NT, July 2019]

Lateral view of a male Australian Pied Oystercatcher in flight
[Iluka Bluff, Bundjalung NP, NSW, May 2014]

Lateral view of a male(?) Australian Pied Oystercatcher, together with a Sooty Oystercatcher (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Lee Point, Darwin, NT, July 2018]

FEMALE

Close-up lateral view of a female Australian Pied Oystercatcher; based on the dark speck in the iris and the length of the bill, this is a female
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Adventure Bay, Bruny Island, TAS, April 2021]

Close-up lateral view of a female Australian Pied Oystercatcher (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)

Lateral view of a female Australian Pied Oystercatcher (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Broadwater, Gold Coast, QLD, March 2019]

Comparison of a female Australian Pied Oystercatcher with a Masked Lapwing (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Adventure Bay, Bruny Island, TAS, April 2021]

Sex unknown

Lateral view of an Australian Pied Oystercatcher

Lateral view of a resting Australian Pied Oystercatcher
[Bundjalung NP, NSW, February 2012]

Near-dorsal view of an Australian Pied Oystercatcher stretching its wings
[Bundjalung NP, NSW, February 2012]

Near-dorsal view of two Australian Pied Oystercatchers (photo courtesy of D. Dyer)
[Ronsard Bay, Cervantes, WA, July 2014]

Dorsal view of an Australian Pied Oystercatcher
[Near Old Bar, NSW, September 2011]

Small flock of Australian Pied Oystercatchers (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Toorbul wader roost, Brisbane, QLD, January 2018]

Direct near-lateral/near-dorsal comparison of an Australian Pied Oystercatcher with a Sooty Oystercatcher
[Bundjalung NP, NSW, May 2014]

Comparison of Australian Pied Oystercatchers with a Bar-tailed Godwit (photo courtesy of C. Pears)
[Esperance, WA, May 2011]

Lateral view of an Australian Pied Oystercatcher flying in front of a breaking wave
[Point Plomer, Limeburners Creek NP, NSW, October 2013]

Lateral view of an Australian Pied Oystercatcher in flight, with a clear view of its underwing (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Metung, near Lakes Entrance, East Gippsland, VIC, November 2019]

Near-dorsal view of an Australian Pied Oystercatcher in flight

Comparison Australian Pied Oystercatcher vs. South Island Pied Oystercatcher

Direct comparison between a FEMALE Australian Pied Oystercatcher, top, and a South Island Oystercatcher, bottom - note the latter's more slender and longer bill
(photos courtesy of M. Eaton, top, and B. Hensen, bottom)

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Australian Pied Oystercatcher chick on its first day out - on the left a Terek Sandpiper; the day the chick hatched the nest went under water (photo courtesy of A. Allnutt)
[Wallaga Lake entrance, near Bermagui, NSW, December 2018]

Breeding information

Breeding season: Jun - Jan

Eggs: 2 - 3

Incubation period: 28 - 32 days

Fledging age: Precocial

Given the right conditions - and depending on geographical latitude - Australian Pied Oystercatchers can breed almost any time of the year, except April.

Nest building: ?

Incubation: Mostly female

Dependent care: Female & male

Nest

"bungobittah", "lar", "malunna", "jindi" [bundjalung] = nest [Aboriginal]

Type: Scrape

Material: Sandy soil

Height above ground: N/A

Australian Pied Oystercatcher nest with 2 eggs in it (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bribie Island, QLD, August 2021]

Overview of the location of an Australian Pied Oystercatcher nest with markers placed around it for protection
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bribie Island, QLD, August 2021]

Australian Pied Oystercatcher nest with one egg; a second egg was laid after the photo had been taken
(photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[East Arm, Darwin, NT, August 2013]

Eggs

"boyanga", "booyanga", "derinya", "dirandil", "koomura", "mirk", "ngampu", "nooluk", "pateena", "pum-pum" = Egg; "dirundirri" = eggs [Aboriginal]; "gawu" = eggs [gamilaraay]

Size: 60 x 41 mm

Colour: Creamy, with dark-brown speckles

Shape: Tapered oval

Close-up view of two Australian Pied Oystercatcher eggs (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bribie Island, QLD, August 2021]

Australian Pied Oystercatcher egg (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[East Arm, Darwin, NT, August 2013]

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial?

Mobility: Dispersive

Elementary unit: Solitary/pair

Food, Diet

Pied Oystercatches feed on oysters and other shellfish that they pry loose with their powerful bills.

Australian Pied Oystercatcher feasting on a mussel (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Near Old Bar, NSW, December 2019]

Australian Pied Oystercatcher with its catch (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bribie Island, QLD, August 2021]

Australian Pied Oystercatcher making sure there are no leftovers in the shell (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Near Old Bar, NSW, December 2019]

Lateral view of an Australian Pied Oystercatcher foraging ontop of a sand dune, rather than along the edge of water
[Near Old Bar, NSW, September 2011]

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

pieoyst_20150818.m4a	(NE NSW)	Contact calls (Q&A; in-flight)	© MD
pieoyst_20150326_2.mp3	(NE NSW)	? (in-flight)	© MD

More Australian Pied Oystercatcher sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

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