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 181

Australia Birds Koalas Parrots 181

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 169

2020 Eggs Feral Cats Breeding 169

10,000 Birds

JULY 14, 2013

The Pied Oystercatchers are predictable each year and have just laid their first eggs and the Red-capped Plovers already have young. In this situation we always stop immediately because the chicks or eggs may be a lot closer than you think. Red-capped Plover protecting her young. Birding Australia Broome plovers'

Eggs 157

Eggs Protection Australia Breeding 157

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 9, 2020

The female Red-capped Plover immediately returned to the nest to incubate her eggs. The male Red-capped Plover was nearby and they generally incubate the eggs at night. Red-capped Plovers usually lay two very small eggs and they also need incubating for around twenty eight days similar to the Pied Oystercatchers.

Eggs 154

Eggs Rescue Rights Protection 154

10,000 Birds

JULY 26, 2020

Following on from the sad loss of our first Pied Oystercatcher chick of 2020 the other eggs are now also hatching. Somehow the twenty eight days passed without the eggs being run over. Pied Oystercatchers always try and move away from the nest site as soon as possible once both eggs are hatched. Pied Oystercatcher family.

Eggs 158

Eggs Family 2008 2020 158

10,000 Birds

MAY 10, 2020

The adult Pied Oystercatcher that is sitting on the eggs will lay as flat as possible to protect the eggs. We really don’t like the presence of Black Kites along the beach when the Pied Oystercatchers are breeding. They present a real threat to the birds and have been known to take young chicks.

Breeding 151

Breeding Eggs Raised Protection 151

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 23, 2015

To the north they are very unlucky with predation before the eggs even hatch out, but to the south the eggs hatch out and then the predation occurs on the chicks. The main problem appears to be feral cats, but there is also predation from birds of prey and the parent Pied Oystercatchers do their utmost to protect their young.

Feral Cats 158

Feral Cats Eggs Feral Cats 158

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.

Eggs 122

Eggs Feral Cats Shelters Feral 122

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 23, 2014

There is egg predation, chick loss and sometimes possibly just some “bad parenting”! One pair of Pied Oystercatchers laid eggs the first year and did not appear to realise they were supposed to sit on them, but they have since learnt it is an essential part of rearing a chick and they have done so since.

Eggs 165

Eggs Raised Breeding Family 165

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2022

They may be about bird eggs ( The Most Perfect Thing: The Inside (and Outside) of a Bird’s Egg , 2016), or a 17th-century ornithologist ( Virtuoso by Nature: The Scientific Worlds of Francis Willughby, 2016), or How Bullfinches learn songs from humans ( The Wisdom of Birds: An Illustrated History of Ornithology.

Dissection 212

Dissection Birds Research Europe 212

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2017

Masked Lapwings have been busy breeding for some months now and some may well be on their second clutch of eggs. The Masked Lapwing is one of the noisiest shorebirds in the north, especially when they are protecting a nest or young. Masked Lapwing protecting a nest. Second Masked Lapwing protecting a nest beside the road.

Breeding 100

Breeding Eggs Protection Cows 100

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

The first eggs were laid in the first week of July, which is the case each year. The eggs take 28 days to hatch and it is then at least 35 days before the chicks are developed enough to fly and there have been problems with predation as in other years. Pied Oystercatcher sitting on eggs in the nudist area of Cable Beach.

Breeding 158

Breeding Eggs Camels Raised 158

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. He will then rear the young Emu for up to 18 months.

Australia 178

Australia Investigation Family Groups 178

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 22, 2022

Reportedly, the Water Thick-knee sometimes locates its nest close to the nest of Nile crocodiles as this offers some protection. 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

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 2016 100

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 16, 2012

In theory the eggs are laid, the adults share the incubation of the eggs for 28 days and then fluffy chicks emerge. Well, basically it is a good area for putting a nest as there is ample food nearby and the dunes offer protection and good views of incoming predators. If only it was that easy!

Family 185

Family Eggs 2007 2008 185

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 30, 2020

Gantheaume Point offers both food and protection for a young Pied Oystercatcher chick, which is very important when they are unable to fly. They prefer to walk away from you to lead you away from eggs, chicks or their territory. The family of Pied Oystercatchers soon made their move to Gantheaume Point.

Eggs 163

Eggs Breeding Family Protection 163

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

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

JULY 24, 2014

Using ministerial connections he obtained 100 mallard eggs from the US and began to breed and distribute them. There are a lot of very threatened endemic species that aren’t found anywhere else, so why spend money saving an essentially unsalvageable species that is still common in Australia when you can spend the money on Kakapo?

Species 165

Species New Zealand Ducks Game 165

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 7, 2011

This makes it a particularly exciting time in New Zealand as the Rugby World Cup begins in two days, and the competition is being held right here in New Zealand (I would imagine they might be more excited if they hadn’t just lost two matches to Australia and South Africa, their big rivals in the Tri-Nations).

New Zealand 157

New Zealand Penguins Sanctuary Birds 157

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2022

Wikipedia also has an interesting paragraph hinting at observation bias in ornithologists: “At the continental scale, saddle-billed storks preferred protected areas that have a higher extent of open water compared to areas without the storks. Studies on improving ostrich egg hatchability. Ostriches originated in Asia.

Ostriches 147

Ostriches Parrots Birds Eggs 147

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 29, 2023

Blue-bottle jellyfish There were various other jellyfish that were the size of dinner plates and other smaller “jellies” that may have been egg sacs rather than jellyfish. They could hide in the rocks and get protected from rain or the heat of the day, but we continued north with our umbrella!

Eggs 147

Eggs Australia Protection Breeding 147

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 11, 2018

One of our male Pied Oystercatchers has been marked with an engraved leg flag “A1” and was one of the first pairs to lay eggs this season. Sadly the two chicks did not survive very long at all and the pair of Pied Oystercatchers were soon getting ready to lay more eggs. “A1” Preparing another nest site.

Eggs 106

Eggs Feral Cats Feral Raised 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. Females seem to be the only sex to sit on the eggs according to literature, but no research appears to have been done on the night time routine. The estimated population is 95 000.

Eggs 161

Eggs Family Breeding Protection 161

10,000 Birds

JULY 12, 2020

Western Australia still has closed borders, but there has been a lot of movement around the state. It protects nesting shorebirds year round. It also protects nesting turtles, which nest later in the year. The nest site has been used in previous years and if it fails they will lay a second clutch of eggs.

Eggs 152

Eggs Turtles Protection 2014 152

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

Australia is a vast country with a very small human population, which mostly clings to the edge of the continent. Even the first explorers to Australia documented there was a risk of extinction of birds and animals into the future and subsequently decided to collect as many specimens as possible! Preface,p.xxiv.

Species 174

Species Australia Birds Parrots 174

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 19, 2012

Over the past week I have continued to monitor the Pied Oystercatchers along our coast and as usual I observe the birds fight against predation of both their eggs and chicks. I thought you would like to know that there are some birds here on the Australian mainland that actually have protection.

Protection 164

Protection Portland Fox Birds 164

10,000 Birds

APRIL 13, 2011

In the case of the Black Robins this involved cross-fostering eggs and chicks in the nests of Chatham Tomtits and Chatham Warblers , a complicated task that quickly boosted numbers of birds once it began. The methodology was intensive, rather than more hands off.

Species 220

Species New Zealand Rats Endangered Species 220

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 161

2011 Deer Africa Peru 161