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

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. He last raised a chick successfully in 2016 and has nested in this area since 2008.

Breeding 100

Breeding 2018 Eggs 2016 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

MAY 10, 2020

The adult Pied Oystercatcher that is sitting on the eggs will lay as flat as possible to protect the eggs. The adult Black Kites will no doubt find enough roadkill to raise their young. We really don’t like the presence of Black Kites along the beach when the Pied Oystercatchers are breeding.

Breeding 151

Breeding Eggs Raised Protection 151

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 25, 2019

We continue to have egg predation at many of the nest sites and chick loss, but one pair of Pied Oystercatchers is being successful in raising two chicks so far. There has never been two eggs hatch and two chicks survive for more than about ten days since we started to keep an eye on them in 2000.

Eggs 128

Eggs 2000 Family Breeding 128

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 23, 2015

There are sixteen pairs of Pied Oystercatchers and they have varying success at raising young birds. 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.

Feral Cats 158

Feral Cats Eggs Feral Cats 158

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

FEBRUARY 28, 2021

Despite the fact that they are part of the cuckoo family they do actually raise their own young. Pheasant Coucals can lay up to five eggs, but we don’t know how often this actually occurs. It is currently Pheasant Coucal breeding season. I mentioned last week that we have had a Pheasant Coucal crashing around in our garden.

Family 149

Family Eggs Raised Breeding 149

10,000 Birds

JUNE 4, 2017

There had been a grader along the fence-line many years ago leaving a lower area that was very flooded and the raised dirt it had left behind was the perfect location for a pair of nesting Australian Painted Snipe. 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

JUNE 23, 2013

Once again Pied Oystercatcher breeding season is fast approaching in Broome and we can expect the first batch of eggs to be laid within the next few weeks. We have also discovered that they are very rarely successful with the first eggs laid due to predation of either the eggs or the chicks.

Eggs 170

Eggs Breeding Australia Raised 170

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 Eggs Feral Cats 2000 100

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. On a recent day trip to Derby from Broome we took the road into the Derby airport to get views of the end of the mudflats and encountered a Masked Lapwing sitting on eggs and chicks right beside the main road at the airport.

Breeding 100

Breeding Eggs Protection Cows 100

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 2, 2011

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. Sadly a lot of eggs are lost to feral cats and chicks are sometimes taken by birds of prey. Nest site with 3 eggs-one white!

2002 166

2002 Feral Cats Eggs 2007 166

10,000 Birds

JULY 15, 2012

There are thousands of shorebirds that visit Broome each year and the majority of them are now in the northern hemisphere hopefully sitting on eggs. Not all of our shorebird species migrate and those that reside here are also currently sitting on eggs, or thinking about laying eggs in the upcoming weeks.

Eggs 207

Eggs Raised Birds Breeding 207

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2016

Pheasant Coucals are also a member of the cuckoo family, but are unique because they do actually raise their own young. All other cuckoos lay their eggs in other birds’ nests and let them raise them. The Eastern Koel has only been recorded in Broome on very rare occasions.

United Kingdom 100

United Kingdom Raised 2013 Africa 100

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 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 Birds Eggs 147

10,000 Birds

JULY 2, 2023

The other duck species that we observe often is the Pacific Black Duck and this duck is one of the most versatile ducks in Australia and can be found in most places. Pacific Black Ducks lay up to 16 eggs and sometimes two clutches are raised in a year.

Ducks 130

Ducks Australia Eggs Raised 130

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2023

Owls live and migrate from Arctic circumpolar to Colorado prairie to South American rainforest to Southeast Asian islands, Galapagos islands, Canary islands–many many islands–to coastal Australia and onward.

Owls 203

Owls Science Barn Owls Penguins 203

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

OCTOBER 1, 2021

Each of these species is an amazing bird and ones that can only be seen, observed, and enjoyed here in Australia. Bowerbirds are a unique family of birds found only in Australia and New Guinea. If she is impressed, she accepts his one single contribution to the raising of the next generation. The first two species are related.

Guinea 260

Guinea Australia Birds Eggs 260

10,000 Birds

JUNE 25, 2017

Australasian Grebes will take advantage of good conditions and raise up to three clutches of eggs and by the numbers of birds currently around the Broome area now it does appear that they took advantage of the big rain even early this year.

Breeding 100

Breeding Geese Ducks Eggs 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 19, 2015

The most exciting time of year is coming up for us with the imminent egg laying, hatching and possibly fledging of Pied Oystercatcher chicks. Last year they successfully raised three chicks to be independant and leave to find a non-breeding flock until they find a mate. Pied Oystercatchers.

Pelicans 160

Pelicans Eggs Birds 2015 160

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 1, 2012

The male builds the mound and will seek to entice multiple females to lay their eggs into it. He had scraped up leaves from around the heap, but for the most part it was ready to move straight in and the workers watched three females laying eggs into the mound. This individual was seen at Mount Coot-Tha near Brisbane.

Turkey 184

Turkey Birds Eggs Family 184

10,000 Birds

MARCH 9, 2011

How do I know of their Gothic moods when they have hidden them so well in an egg-white shell of conformity? Palm Warblers in Central Park Answers to A Diabolical Quick Quiz Cow Birds About the Author Jochen Jochen Roeder was born in Germany and raised to be a birder. It is the claws that give them away, their black nail polish.

2011 159

2011 Birds Deer Europe 159

10,000 Birds

JULY 12, 2020

Western Australia still has closed borders, but there has been a lot of movement around the state. We have to hope that vehicles stop driving beyond the high tide mark and that the eggs hatch out in twenty eight days’ time. 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

DECEMBER 17, 2013

But there was this one in Australia. Birds are raised from the egg to follow a certain migration timing, but that timing shifts when the egg hatches later or earlier due to changes in conditions. Or, at least, mass die-offs were less often featured in the news. 06–11 Archaeopteryx may have been black and white.

Science 185

Science 2013 Elephants Birds 185

10,000 Birds

APRIL 27, 2012

Many of the most peculiar aspects of birds are involved with mating, whether it’s for attracting mates, defending nests against predators, or raising chicks. In this system, females mate and lay eggs with multiple males over the course of a breeding season, leaving males to incubate the eggs and raise the chicks.

2002 164

2002 North America 2000 2009 164

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). Once I am moderately successful, I often find such photos quite pleasing. See the sequence below.

Birds 147

Birds China Eggs Breeding 147