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Empty Pied Oystercatcher nests

10,000 Birds

An empty Pied Oystercatcher nest should mean that there are now chicks and that the parents have been sitting on a clutch of two eggs for twenty eight days. Some nests had clearly been there for some time and had contained eggs until recently. Pied Oystercatcher chicks can swim, but maybe feral cats will too if they are hungry.

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The predictability of Pied Oystercatchers

10,000 Birds

Feral cats are a huge problem in Australia and they do take a lot of the eggs. These are not pet cats, but cats that have only ever lived in the wild and can survive in extreme conditions. There are four pairs with eggs currently after the first pair lost their eggs, which they laid in the same location as last year.

Eggs 180
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Birding Sepilok, Borneo (Part 2)

10,000 Birds

Even to the author of the paper, who cautiously adds that “nest architecture is unlikely to be irrelevant to females, and its role deserves further investigation” (if swear words were allowed on 10,000 Birds, I would say that he is trying to cover his ass). My cats refuse to even try Fiery Minivets.

Birds 226