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The Pied
Oystercatcher is shy of humans and seldom allows close approach. It is mostly
silent when feeding but may utter a whistled 'peepapeep' or 'pleep-pleep' when
in flight.
All
oystercatchers have a bright orange-red bill,
eye-rings and legs and a red eye.
Young birds are similar in appearance to the adults, but lack the intense
red-orange colour and are browner than of black.
The size ranges
from 48 - 51 cm. The white breast and belly distinguish the Pied Oystercatcher
from
the closely related Sooty Oystercatcher, H. fuliginosus, which has
all black plumage.
Oystercatchers
feed on bivalve molluscs, which are prised apart with their specially adapted
bills. Food
is found by sight, or by probing their long, chisel-shaped bills in
the mud.
Young Pied
Oystercatchers are one of the few waders that are fed by their parents using
this specialised feeding technique. Worms, crustaceans and insects are also
eaten.
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