10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2021

A couple of weeks ago I introduced you to the pair of Pied Oystercatchers that were the first to start breeding along our coast this year. Sadly they were not successful with their first clutch of eggs, but are busily making nest scrapes again. We are hopeful that soon they will have laid another clutch of eggs.

Breeding 264

Breeding Eggs 2000 Raised 264

10,000 Birds

JUNE 21, 2020

At this time of year we are on the lookout for the start of breeding season in Pied Oystercatchers. They use the same nest site for subsequent clutches if any fail during the breeding season. We normally encounter our first Pied Oystercatcher nest with eggs in it around the first week of July. The first egg laid.

Breeding 264

Breeding Eggs 2016 Birds 264

10,000 Birds

JULY 31, 2022

Well, it is that time of year again and shorebirds are breeding. Hopefully all of the migratory shorebirds that left Roebuck Bay earlier this year have been successful at breeding in the Northern Hemisphere and will soon be heading back to our shores. It has been a very rare occurrence that three eggs have been laid.

Breeding 147

Breeding Eggs 2000 Chickens 147

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 18, 2022

Every year we observe both egg and chick loss amongst our Pied Oystercatcher pairs along Cable Beach and also in Roebuck Bay during their breeding season. The breeding season starts around the end of June and there are still eggs being laid and chicks hatching, but now these are the second clutches of eggs.

Breeding 147

Breeding Eggs Protection Family 147

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 20, 2023

Earlier this year when we first observed Comb-crested Jacanas close to Broome they had just arrived from further north in Australia. The male Comb-crested Jacana builds the nest, incubates the eggs and cares for the young. We have observed nests in the past further north.

Breeding 130

Breeding Australia Eggs Rights 130

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 7, 2022

When she is out of the nest she seems to like to have a bit of a stretch and then goes back to sit on the eggs. He is supposed to help out at that stage of the breeding process. Female Mistletoebird stretching before going back to the nest. The male Mistletoebird has not had a lot to do so far and remains nearby.

Breeding 147

Breeding Eggs Australia Birds 147

10,000 Birds

MAY 10, 2020

We really don’t like the presence of Black Kites along the beach when the Pied Oystercatchers are breeding. The adult Pied Oystercatcher that is sitting on the eggs will lay as flat as possible to protect the eggs. Of course Black Kites also breed and at the moment there is a nest very close to the highway.

Breeding 153

Breeding Eggs Raised Protection 153

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 29, 2021

The Pied Oystercatcher breeding season continues here in Broome along our coastline and once again the birds are not having much luck. The first pair of Pied Oystercatchers to breed this year have had a second clutch of two eggs and they had two chicks, but sadly they were lost within a few days of hatching.

Eggs 227

Eggs Australia Breeding Protection 227

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 27, 2023

As I sit at my desk writing this post about the latest attempt at breeding for one of our pairs of Pied Oystercatchers I realise I have written 677 posts now for this website. The photo below shows the actual nest with the eggs in, but that may not be initially clear to you, so I have underlined them in a copy of the photo below.

Eggs 130

Eggs Australia Protection 2000 130

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 9, 2016

The Black-fronted Dotterel breeds throughout the year around Broome and usually close to fresh water. Although I have written about this small resident shorebird breeding in the past I have now been able to obtain photographs of it maintaining egg temperature on very hot and dry days. Black-fronted Dotterel sitting on two eggs.

Eggs 154

Eggs Breeding Birds Australia 154

10,000 Birds

JULY 20, 2014

In Australia we definitely have our fair share of invasive species and the main problem is that we are such a huge land mass with such a small population. The population of Australia is concentrated mainly around the city areas along the coast and many invasive species have been able to spread with ease.

Australia 157

Australia Species Feral Cats Feral 157

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 12, 2021

This year, like every year, the Pied Oystercatchers have not given up on trying to successfully breed along our coast here in Broome. The breeding season started early this year with the first eggs laid at the end of May. This male bird is actually one of the oldest Pied Oystercatchers in Australia at the moment.

Eggs 222

Eggs Breeding Australia Family 222

10,000 Birds

JULY 1, 2018

This year is the eighteenth year since we discovered our first Pied Oystercatcher nest on Cable Beach in Broome and it didn’t take us long to realise that they are not at all successful at raising young due to egg and chick predation. Each year we hope for anther success, but so far it has not happened. Pied Oystercatcher nest.

Breeding 100

Breeding 2018 Eggs 2008 100

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 8, 2015

Egg loss to predation has been extraordinarily bad this year and all of the nests mentioned in the last post were lost and all of the pairs of Pied Oystercatchers laid a new clutch of eggs. In fact they have not just laid once again, but many pairs have laid up to five clutches of eggs this season.

Breeding 134

Breeding Eggs 2011 2008 134

10,000 Birds

APRIL 23, 2017

Not only have the Magpie-larks been busy building their mud nests and the Tawny Frogmouths been breeding at the supermarket car park, but other birds arrived and started to breed. This year has been very wet and the local birds have taken advantage of the situation. Black-winged Stilt chicks on the edge of the highway.

Breeding 100

Breeding Geese Australia Eggs 100

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

This year we have continued to monitor the breeding of several pairs of Pied Oystercatchers along the coast in Broome from Gantheaume Point to Willie Creek on the south side. The first eggs were laid in the first week of July, which is the case each year. Pied Oystercatcher sitting on eggs in the nudist area of Cable Beach.

Breeding 159

Breeding Eggs Camels Shelters 159

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 20, 2013

It is breeding season and they are looking for mates! The breeding plumage of these birds is a lot darker now than during the rest of the year and the head, neck, breast and belly are almost black with chestnut wings and tail feathers. The Pheasant Coucal lives in Northern and Eastern Australia.

Breeding 161

Breeding Australia Eggs Family 161

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2017

Over the past few months there have been a lot of birds breeding around Broome with the excellent rain events that we have been having and the vegetation is at long last revived. Masked Lapwings have been busy breeding for some months now and some may well be on their second clutch of eggs. Masked Lapwing protecting a nest.

Breeding 100

Breeding Eggs Protection Cows 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 3, 2016

Traditionally since 2000 we have encountered our first Pied Oystercatcher eggs in the first week of July, but this year one pair have decided to start laying eggs early! Sadly they have already lost one clutch of eggs to predation, so by July 1st this year they are on their second clutch. Pied Oystercatcher nest.

Breeding 100

Breeding Feral Cats Eggs 2000 100

10,000 Birds

JUNE 4, 2017

After a very good Wet Season with substantially more rain than normal over the first few months of 2017 the land was flooded and a huge variety of birds arrived in the Broome area to take advantage of the ideal conditions for breeding. Australian Painted Snipe nest with four eggs. Four eggs in the Australian Painted Snipe nest.

Breeding 100

Breeding Eggs Raised 2017 100

10,000 Birds

APRIL 25, 2022

It has been more than 5 years since I last went to Australia, and I was even less of a qualified bird photographer then than I am now. All photos were taken in Australia in December 2016 – locations included Brisbane and surroundings, Alice Springs, Ayers Rock, Melbourne, and the coast near Melbourne.

Australia 193

Australia Koalas Parrots Birds 193

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 13, 2023

We all hope that they were able to breed successfully in the Northern Hemisphere and that they can find food throughout the Flyway to return to our shores. Our resident shorebirds have started to breed in the last few weeks and there are numerous Pied Oystercatcher nests along our shores right now.

Eggs 180

Eggs 2011 Breeding Protection 180

10,000 Birds

MARCH 5, 2017

It did seem highly probable that the Magpie Geese would breed in the area this year. Both of the female Magpie Geese would have laid their eggs in the same nest and there could have been up to sixteen eggs in the nest at any one time. This week we discovered that what we had suspected was indeed true.

Geese 100

Geese Breeding Eggs 2014 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 7, 2022

According to a bird guide published in 1911, “Competent authorities have proposed to divide the world, biologically, into two parts – Australia and the rest of the world, and they have considered Australia the more interesting part.” ” (quoted from Tim Low’s book “The Origin of Song”).

Australia 147

Australia Parrots Birds Memphis 147

10,000 Birds

JULY 19, 2020

Our first Pied Oystercatcher eggs for this year’s breeding season were laid early and were due to hatch last weekend. This pair of Pied Oystercatchers never seems to have a problem with incubating their eggs. They take it in turns over the twenty eight days sitting or hovering over the eggs. Pied Oystercatcher egg.

2020 178

2020 Eggs Feral Cats Feral 178

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 1, 2012

They generally lay four eggs, but we have only seen a maximum of three surviving chicks after a few days. A good indication that they have eggs or young is the extreme noise that they make. They will often fly at both people and other animals in defense of their eggs and young. Masked Lapwing chick hiding in a cow footprint!

Breeding 145

Breeding Cows Eggs 2012 145

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 29, 2022

According to Tim Low (in “Where Song began”), “so easy were they to breed that by 1859 they cost less to buy in London than in Sydney.” ” Funny how the difficulty of breeding a species can be illustrated in simple monetary terms. Is it offensive to say that Australian Zebra Finches breed like rabbits?

Australia 147

Australia Birds Sheep Zebras 147

10,000 Birds

MARCH 13, 2011

Carpet Shark washed up Carpet shark being returned to the sea I hope you have enjoyed this little insight into our varied wildlife here in the north of Australia. She also monitors Pied Oystercatchers breeding along a 23km stretch of beach by bicycle and on foot. I loved your post, I have to visit Australia someday.

Australia 152

Australia Sharks 2011 Deer 152

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2022

Europe has one species (Eurasian Spoonbill), the Americas have one (Roseate Spoonbill), Australia two (Royal and Yellow-billed Spoonbill), and Asia has two as well (Eurasian and Black-faced Spoonbill). Studies on improving ostrich egg hatchability. Also, I learned that in the US , ostrich eggs are priced at $40-$75.

Ostriches 147

Ostriches Parrots Eggs Africa 147

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 11, 2020

Non-breeding Pied Oystercatchers join flocks either to the north or south of Gantheaume Point. They do not attempt to breed for about seven years. There are still newly laid clutches of Pied Oystercatcher eggs on the northern section of Cable Beach , so there is hope still of more survivals.

2020 242

2020 Eggs Family Breeding 242

10,000 Birds

APRIL 6, 2014

I have followed the breeding activity of the Pied Oystercatchers in Broome along Cable Beach since July 2000 when I found the first nest site and the birds have continued to use the same territories, though there have been some partner changes. I can also monitor any movement along the coast during the year when they are no longer breeding.

2007 170

2007 Eggs 2002 2014 170

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 23, 2014

Of the sixteen pairs of Pied Oystercatchers between Gantheaume Point and Willie Creek on the south side, which is a length of breeding territories covering 23 kilometres-just over 14 miles-only one chick fledges most years. There is egg predation, chick loss and sometimes possibly just some “bad parenting”!

Eggs 165

Eggs Raised Breeding Family 165

10,000 Birds

JULY 14, 2013

Along Broome’s coastline there are a lot less shorebirds during this time of year and those that do remain are either non-breeding migratory birds or they are resident shorebirds that breed along our coastline. In this situation we always stop immediately because the chicks or eggs may be a lot closer than you think.

Eggs 157

Eggs Australia Protection Breeding 157

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 11, 2019

In fact we often don’t have any chicks within two weeks of the eggs hatching and other pairs along the coast have not been successful yet this season. More eggs have been laid and hopefully other pairs of Pied Oystercatchers will soon have young to care for. Female on the left and two chicks next to the male Pied Oystercatcher.

Feral Cats 126

Feral Cats Eggs Shelters Feral 126

10,000 Birds

JULY 22, 2012

This is our thirteenth year of observing Pied Oystercatchers breed along the coast near Broome and it gets easier every year! They always nest from the end of June and they always nest in the same place or within a few metres if there is disturbance around the breeding territory. They are so predictable!

Feral Cats 178

Feral Cats Turtles Eggs Investigation 178

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2022

I do not get too many comments on my blog posts, but it seems that whenever I write about jacanas – whether in Africa, Australia, or Asia – there is an unusually high number of reactions (well, maybe one or two rather than the usual zero) from female readers. This is ok as birds do not have teeth anyway). How efficient.

Birds 162

Birds South Korea Japan Abandonment 162

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 25, 2019

It has been a few years since I could share some good news about the Pied Oystercatchers breeding along the coast near Broome. Hopefully you won’t mind me writing a bit more this year about Pied Oystercatchers during the breeding season! The two eggs normally hatch at least a day apart and sometimes longer.

Eggs 134

Eggs 2000 Family Breeding 134