Africa Wild Bird Book

[Toko]

244. African Black Oystercatcher Haematopus moquini (Swarttobie)
Order: Charadriiformes. Family: Haematopodidae


Simon's Town

Description
It is a large black shorebird. Length: 42–45 cm. Male weight: 482–757 g. Female weight: 646–800 g. The African Black Oystercatcher has glossy black plumage, which contrasts with its red eye, and bright orangey-red eye-ring and dagger-like long orange-red bill. The sturdy legs are a deep pinkish-red. Some adults have small white patches on the underparts.
There is sexual dimorphism, females being larger and heavier with longer bills.
Immature oystercatchers have duller, browner plumage, appearing faintly buff-scaled, with a duller orange bill tipped with brown the legs are grey or greyish pink.

Distribution: Stricktly coastal. The African Black Oystercatcher breeds along the southern African coast from northern Namibia to the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa.



Habitat
The African Black Oystercatcher inhabits rocky and sandy shores, and sometimes estuaries and coastal lagoons. It prefers to breed on offshore islands and sandy beaches.

Movements and migrations
Adults are largely sedentary and territorial, generally breeding on sandy beaches and islands, often heading to more rocky areas of the coastline in the non-breeding season. Juveniles on the south-eastern coast disperse widely after becoming fully independent, usually travelling at least 150 km's away from their parents' breeding territory. Juveniles originating from the western and southern coast of South Africa often head to five 'nursery' areas on the Namibian and Angolan coast, where they stay for about 2-3 years before returning to the area they grow up in.

Diet
African Black Oystercatchers forage in the intertidal zone of their coastal habitat. In rocky areas the primary prey for the African black oystercatcher are mussels and limpets, but this coastal bird also feeds on whelks and other bivalves and crustaceans. Feeding on such prey can pose difficulties as the tasty flesh is hidden within a hard shell. However, with its strong bill the African black oystercatcher can cut the muscle that holds the two halves of the shell together and stab the prey inside, or hammer the shell open on rocks.

Breeding
The Oystercatcher is apparently monogamous and the pairs mate for life; some pairs have been known to live together for up to 20 years. Pairs defend their territory by performing the piping display, in which they point their bills downwards, hunch their shoulders and call loudly.These birds start breeding at three to four years of age. They breed once a year at the onset of summer. The female can lay eggs from October to April, but laying occurs primarily from December to February. In a scrape in the sand, among shells or sometimes on bare rocks, a clutch of one to three (usually two) greenish stony-coloured eggs is laid, which are incubated by both adults. The eggs hatch after 27-39 days of incubation The chicks leave the nest after about 24 hours and are cared for by both parents, who regularly feed them in or near the intertidal zone. They fledge at about 35-40 days old, becoming fully independent about 2-6 months later.

Call
Its call is a distinctive loud piping klee-kleep and a fast peeka-peeka-peeka alarm call. Display calls more complex, including rapid trilling.
http://www.xeno-canto.org/species/Haematopus-moquini

Status
Near-endemic and a resident breeder. Classified as Near Threatened (NT) on the IUCN Red List. Threatened, due to its small population size, low reproductive rate and susceptibility to human disturbance, particularly as the breeding season coincides with the height of the summer tourist season. Eggs and chicks are crushed by people or off-road vehicles, or eaten by domestic dogs. The African black oystercatcher is southern Africa's second rarest coastal breeding bird. The total population is less than 5 000 birds.

[Toko]

244. African Black Oystercatcher Haematopus moquini (Swarttobie)

© nan
Lamberts Bay

© Sharifa
Tsitsikamma Section, Stroms River Mouth, Garden Route National Park

Links:
http://sabap2.adu.org.za/docs/sabap1/244.pdf
http://sabap2.adu.org.za/species_info.p ... #menu_left
Newman's birds of Southern Africa
Avian Demography Unit
Hockey, P.A.R. 1997. African black oystercatcher: between the tides. Africa - Birds & Birding 2(5):28-34.

[Toko]

243. Eurasian Oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus (Bonttobie)
Order: Charadriiformes. Family: Haematopodidae



Description
Wingspan: 72-83 cm. Length: 39-44 cm. Fairly large, pied shorebird with long, bright orange-red bill, pink legs and combination of black and white plumage. In flight there is a prominent white wing-bar, and during winter a white 'chin-strap' develops.
The sexes are similar in appearance, although males often have relatively shorter, thicker bills.
Juveniles are duller, have brownish-black upperparts (black feathering is tinged with brown), a white throat crescent, grey legs, and a dark tip to the bill.
Smaller and more slender than the all black African Black Oystercatcher.

Distribution
Breeds at Iceland, central and northern Russia and China, heading south in the non-breeding season to eastern Asia and the coast of Africa, mainly above 20° North. It is a vagrant to southern Africa, with over 70 records (and counting) spread across the southern coast of South Africa and coastal central Namibia and Mozambique.

Habitat
It generally prefers sheltered shores with soft sediment, such as estuaries and lagoons, while largely absent from rocky areas.

Diet
The strong, flattened bill allows the oystercatcher to prize open cockles, mussels and other bivalves that other waders cannot exploit. They also feed on worms, limpets and crabs.

Breeding
The nest is a scrape on the ground, after mid-April between two and four (but usually three) cream eggs, spotted with brown are laid. Both sexes share the duty of incubation, which takes 24 to 27 days. The young are very well camouflaged, and they leave the nest after about a day. Both the male and the female care for the young until they become independent at between 34 and 37 days. Oystercatcher pairs usually produce just one brood a year, although if the brood is lost for some reason, a replacement brood may be produced.

Call
Its call is a sharp high pitches klee-kleep and pic-pic-pic. Listen to Bird Call.

Status
Rare summer visitor to all coasts. Usually occurs in southern Africa as non-breeding or immature. Rare Palearctic migrant, mostly December-March but recorded all months; young birds may remain longer than a year. The oystercatcher is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List.

[Toko]

243. Eurasian Oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus (Bonttobie)

© Mel

© Lisbeth

Links:
Sabap2
Newman's birds of Southern Africa
The Illustrated Encyclopedia Of European Birds

[Toko]

Family Recurvirostridae (Stilts, Avocets)
Recurvirostridae is a family of birds in the wader suborder Charadrii. It contains two distinct groups of birds, the avocets (one genus) and the stilts (two genera).
Avocets and stilts range in length from 30 to 46 cm; males are usually slightly bigger than females. All possess long, thin legs, necks, and bills. The bills of avocets are curved upwards, and are swept from side to side when the bird is feeding in the brackish or saline wetlands they prefer. The bills of stilts, in contrast, are straight. The front toes are webbed, partially in most stilts, fully in avocets.
These species feed on small aquatic animals such as mollusks, brine shrimp and other crustaceans, larval insects, segmented worms, tadpoles, and small fish.
Avocets and stilts are a cosmopolitan family.
Stilts and avocets breed on open ground near water, often in loose colonies. They defend nesting territories vigorously with aggressive displays and mob intruders and possible predators with a great deal of noise. They are monogamous, although the pair bonds are not maintained from season to season. Their eggs are light-coloured with dark markings. Three to four are laid in simple nests, and both parents share the incubation duties, which last 22 to 28 days.The chicks are downy and precocial, leaving the nest within a day of hatching; they fledge in 28 to 35 days. The chicks are cared for several months by the parents, which may move them to new areas and defend territories there.

[Toko]

Species indigenous to southern Africa:

Family Recurvirostridae (Stilts, Avocets)
Himantopus himantopus Black-winged Stilt 295
Recurvirostra avosetta Pied Avocet 294

[Richprins]

295. Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus (Rooipootelsie)
Order: Charadriiformes: Family: Recurvirostridae

Black-winged Stilt.jpg (32.05 KiB) Viewed 702 times

© Richprins
Sunset Dam, Kruger National Park

Description
33-36 cm. Unmistakable black and white wader with the longest legs relative to body size of any bird. Black above, white below, white head and neck, long pink legs, long thin black bill.
Adult male breeding: Mantle, scapulars and entire upper and underwings jet black; small white triangle adjacent to body at leading edge of underwing. Remainder of plumage white, but some with variable amount of black or black mottling on crown and nape. Bill black, long and very thin. Eyes black, rimmed red (appear red in field). Legs and feet vermilion.
Adult male non-breeding: As breeding male, but with variable dusky markings on crown and nape; legs slightly duller red.
Adult female breeding & non-breeding: As non-breeding male, but generally has more dusky markings on crown and nape. Mantle, scapulars, tertials and tertial coverts brown, fringed paler.
Immatures have grey, sandy wings; legs greyish pink.

Distribution
Across the world between 50° North and 40° South, including in sub-Saharan Africa, where it is common across much of the region, largely excluding southern Botswana, Zimbabwe, much of Mozambique and south-eastern South Africa.

Habitat
Common near water (inland and coastal wetlands, such as commercial salt pans, flooded fields, flood plains, swamps and sewage works).

Diet
Mainly aquativ insects, larvae, small crustaceans, and molluscs, tadpoles and small fish. It locates prey visually before plucking them from the water surface, or by immersing its head in the water while locating prey with touch.

Breeding
Monogamous, usually solitary nester. The nest is built by both sexes, consisting of a mound of mud usually with incorporated pieces of weeds and often decorated with mollusc shells. It is typically placed on damp mud, mats of vegetation at the edge of the waterline. Egg-laying season is year-round, peaking from January to July in Botswana and Namibia and from about August-December elsewhere in southern Africa. It lays 2-5 eggs, which are mainly incubated by the female for about 24-27 days. The chicks leave the nest and are capable of self-feeding with 24 hours of hatching, taking their first flight at about 28-32 days and becoming fully independent about 14-28 days later.

Call
Sharp, repetitive kik-kik-kik. Listen to Bird Call.

Status
Common resident, nomadic and a partial migrant. Usually in small groups.

[Richprins]

295. Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus (Rooipootelsie)

© Bush Brat

© PRWIN
Marievale, Gauteng

© Dewi

© Toko
Juvenile

Links:
http://sabap2.adu.org.za/docs/sabap1/295.pdf
http://sabap2.adu.org.za/spp_summary.ph ... &section=3
Newman's birds of Southern Africa

[PRWIN]

294. Pied Avocet Recurvirostra avosetta (Bontelsie)
Order: Charadriiformes. Family: Recurvirostridae

Pied Avocet.jpg (31.81 KiB) Viewed 703 times

© PRWIN
Marievale, Gauteng

Description
Elegant, long-legged black and white wading bird. White plumage, black cap and hindneck, black patches in the wings and on the back. Long thin, upturned bill and long, blue legs.
Juvenile has the black replaced by mottled brown and its plumage is often blotched with greyer patches.

Distribution
Occurs across much of the old world, from China and Mongolia to Europe and sub-Saharan Africa, largely excluding the forests of the DRC and West and East Africa. In southern Africa it is locally common in patches of Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, southern Mozambique and South Africa.

Habitat
In shallow water of inland lakes, dams and pans (especially sewage ponds), coastal lagoons and estuaries.

Movements and migrations
Nomadic and partially migratory, moving in search of areas which have experienced recent rainfall so that it can stay at the resultant ephemeral pans.

Diet
It mainly eats invertebrates, especially crustaceans and Chironomid larvae, occasionally supplemented with fish. It typically forages tactilely, filtering and scraping food with its head submerged, or using a technique in which swings its bill from side to side in a scything motion. It may also locate prey visually and pluck them from the water surface, alternatively dabbling in deeper water like a duck.

Breeding
Monogamous, usually solitary nester, although it sometimes breeds in loose colonies of up to 100 pairs. The nest is built by both sexes, consisting of a simple scrape or animal footprint in the ground, untidily lined with material such as small twigs, feather, scraps of vegetation and shells. Egg-laying season is year-round, generally peaking from June-October and from March-April. It lays 1-4 eggs, which are incubated by both sexes for about 22-27 days. The chicks are led to the water soon after hatching and are cared for both parents, taking their first flight at about 26-28 days old but remaining with the adults well after fledging.

Call
A clear kooit; also a kik-kik alarm call. Listen to Bird Call.

Status
Widespread nomadic resident.

[PRWIN]

294. Pied Avocet Recurvirostra avosetta (Bontelsie)

© PRWIN

© BluTuna
Kruger National Park

© steamtrainfan
Marievale, Gauteng

© nan

Links:
http://sabap2.adu.org.za/docs/sabap1/294.pdf
http://sabap2.adu.org.za/spp_summary.ph ... &section=3
Newman's birds of Southern Africa