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 212

Eggs Breeding Australia Family 212

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 172

Eggs 2011 Breeding Protection 172

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 158

Breeding Eggs Camels Raised 158

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.

2020 172

2020 Eggs Feral Cats Breeding 172

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 185

Australia Birds Koalas Parrots 185

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. Adult and Juvenile Black-winged Stilts. Black-winged Stilt chick.

Breeding 100

Breeding Geese Australia Eggs 100

10,000 Birds

MARCH 5, 2017

It did seem highly probable that the Magpie Geese would breed in the area this year. This was the first of many Magpie Geese families that we were to come across. Magpie Goose family-two adults. There is water as far as you can see and the families are swimming around in their family groups often very close to the road.

Geese 100

Geese Breeding 2014 Eggs 100

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 16, 2012

It has been twelve weeks now since the first pair of Pied Oystercatchers attempted to breed along the stretch of beach that we survey and as with each year there have been setbacks. In theory the eggs are laid, the adults share the incubation of the eggs for 28 days and then fluffy chicks emerge. If only it was that easy!

Family 187

Family Eggs 2007 2008 187

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

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. It looks similar to a pheasant in many ways, but is actually part of the cuckoo family.

Breeding 160

Breeding Australia Eggs Family 160

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

OCTOBER 11, 2020

On a rising tide the Pied Oystercatcher family soon found a good position to watch and wait until the reef was exposed once again. Pied Oystercatcher family at roost. The Pied Oystercatcher family will remain together for some time yet. They do not attempt to breed for about seven years.

2020 231

2020 Family Eggs Breeding 231

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 1, 2012

We have recently come across several Masked Lapwing Vanellus miles families around Broome. 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. Masked Lapwing chick hiding in a cow footprint!

Breeding 144

Breeding Cows Eggs 2012 144

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. Pied Oystercatcher family.

Eggs 123

Eggs Feral Cats Shelters Feral 123

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2020

Arriving at the beach as the tide pushed in yesterday we soon found the Pied Oystercatcher family had left footprints in the wet sand. We then moved slowly through the rocks until we found the family. There are more Pied Oystercatcher nests with eggs in them now, so the breeding season is not over yet.

Eggs 169

Eggs Family Breeding Rights 169

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! I introduced you to this Pied Oystercatcher family four weeks ago.

Eggs 130

Eggs 2000 Family Breeding 130

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

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 168

2007 Eggs 2014 2002 168

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 30, 2020

The family of Pied Oystercatchers soon made their move to Gantheaume Point. Typically the whole Pied Oystercatcher family spend a lot of time either feeding or roosting. They prefer to walk away from you to lead you away from eggs, chicks or their territory. We would not expect it to breed for several years yet.

Eggs 165

Eggs Breeding Family Protection 165

10,000 Birds

MARCH 24, 2013

The Emu Dromaius novaehollandiae is Australia’s largest bird standing at up to 2 metres (6 foot 6 inches) tall. They will only breed if the conditions are good and the male will be responsible for nest building and incubating the 6-12 eggs for approximately 60 days. Emu family on the other side of the fence.

Australia 179

Australia Investigation Family Groups 179

10,000 Birds

JULY 15, 2018

Two weeks ago I introduced you to two pairs of our Pied Oystercatchers that were early egg layers this year and this week the eggs have hatched out after twenty eight days of incubation. Both pairs of Pied Oystercatchers are in a very public area of Cable Beach, but they are always successful with their egg incubation each year.

2018 100

2018 Eggs Feral Cats Camels 100

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 22, 2022

While hoopoes are in their own family, DNA studies suggest that the hoopoe diverged from hornbills, and the wood-hoopoes and scimitarbills from the hoopoe. However, it is kind of sophisticated in that the females lay very individualized eggs in order to be able to detect the added eggs of parasite cuckoo finches.

Zimbabwe 147

Zimbabwe Birds South Africa Benin 147

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 12, 2012

After 28 days of sharing the duty of sitting on three eggs we finally had the arrival of our first Pied Oystercatcher chicks for 2012 on Friday August 3rd. It is unusual for three eggs to be laid here in Broome and many eggs do not even hatch due to predation each season.

Eggs 176

Eggs Dogs Shelters Family 176

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 2, 2011

We are into the second attempt at breeding for this season in Broome for Pied Oystercatchers. The first eggs are laid during the first week of July each year and if these eggs fail to hatch or the chicks are lost they will lay further eggs within a few weeks. Nest site with 3 eggs-one white!

2002 166

2002 Feral Cats Eggs 2007 166

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2022

The one bird I did not see here, however, was the Bateleur Eagle … One highlight in the area is the Saddle-billed Stork , likely to be the tallest species in the stork family. Another member of the stork family, the African Openbill , looks like it is could benefit from a good orthodontist. And sadly, it is listed as Endangered.

Ostriches 147

Ostriches Parrots Birds Eggs 147

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2023

The species are taxonomically divided into two families: Tytonidae, Barn-Owls, and Strigidae, Owls, encompassed in one order, Strigiformes. The chapters on courtship and breeding and roosting and migration are the longest, which isn’t surprising. They roost and hunt, at night (mostly) when we can’t see them.

Owls 209

Owls Science Barn Owls Penguins 209

10,000 Birds

JULY 25, 2022

When going to Australia, one of the two birds I wanted to see most was the Tawny Frogmouth. When these birds breed, this can lead to highly cringeworthy announcements, for example from Adelaide Zoo : “We have egg-citing news!” The Black-faced Monarch is a relative in the same bird family, the Monarchidae.

Birds 226

Birds Australia Ducks Mountain Goats 226

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 3, 2020

The goal of Around the World For Penguins is simple: Describe the 18 species of penguin and their breeding grounds “from the perspective of a traveller.” But, unlike most books focused on a bird family, this one is organized geographically. The full-length species accounts are not repeated.

Penguins 278

Penguins Georgia New Zealand Albatross 278

10,000 Birds

JUNE 25, 2017

The most common member of the Grebe species around Broome is the Australasian Grebe- Tachybaptus novaehollandiae and it has taken advantage of our exceptionally good Wet Season early this year and has been breeding very successfully. During breeding season the Australasian Grebe has a very distinct pale yellow patch at the base of the bill.

Breeding 100

Breeding Geese Ducks Eggs 100

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 3, 2017

Are there birders out there who do not dream of birding Australia? Possibly birders who have already birded Australia (but, wouldn’t you want to go back?) The guide covers 747 breeding residents or regular migrants, 29 introduced species, and 160 vagrants, a total of 936 species. 210-531), indicated by brown page tabs.

Australia 106

Australia Birds Penguins 2015 106

10,000 Birds

APRIL 10, 2011

The Red-capped Plover Charadrius ruficapillus is a very cute shorebird that is often seen scurrying along the shoreline around Australia. The male bird has the “red cap&# more than the female during the breeding season and is believed to take less interest in the nesting. The estimated population is 95 000.

Eggs 162

Eggs Family Breeding Protection 162

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 7, 2016

Our 23 kilometre stretch of beach that runs from Gantheaume Poin t to Willie Creek has finally seen the arrival of the first Pied Oystercatcher chicks for the 2016 breeding season. This pair of birds laid eggs in the first week of July, which is typical for the Broome area. Pied Oystercatcher nest with 2 eggs.

Eggs 100

Eggs 2016 Shelters Breeding 100

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 27, 2015

Last weekend we went by vehicle to check on the Pied Oystercatchers that breed along that stretch of beach and there has been continued egg loss over the past few weeks. They are persistent at laying eggs and despite the loss of all the eggs from our last visit there were five new eggs. Pied Oystercatcher egg.

Eggs 140

Eggs Birds Investigation Bears 140

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 1, 2012

The Australian Brush-turkey is far enough removed from the American Turkey’s Phasianidae family to not even get considered for wedding and funeral invitations. It belongs instead to the Megapodiidae branch of the Galliformes family tree. The male builds the mound and will seek to entice multiple females to lay their eggs into it.

Turkey 187

Turkey Birds Eggs Family 187

10,000 Birds

MARCH 19, 2011

As I watched, it slowly moved into a patch of dried vegetation and I noticed that it was settling over a single egg. Two or three eggs may be laid and either bird may incubate. They are most active at night and make eerie nocturnal calls which have cemented their place in many folklore tales from Africa to Australia.

2011 163

2011 Deer Africa Peru 163

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 25, 2022

With the end of the year approaching you could consider where you would like to go birding in Australia in 2023. Wherever you dare to go in Australia you won’t be disappointed by the birds that you encounter. Some places around Australia we only visited for a short time and others for much longer. Foster to Fish Creek.

Australia 147

Australia Singapore Birds Battery 147

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 1, 2022

I have written about the interesting sex life of these jacanas a few times already (short version: female mates with male, lays a bunch of eggs for him to incubate and raise the chicks, leaves him, finds another male, repeat). Apparently, after a male first mates with a female, he throws out the first one or two eggs she lays in their nest.

Birds 147

Birds China Eggs Breeding 147