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PLATE 35: LARGE PIED SHOREBIRDS
Eurasian Oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus PM, WV
L: 43. W: 83. Large black-and-white wader with long, red bill and rather short, red-pink legs
(adult). Flight strong and direct; shows conspicuous white wing-bar, white rump and terminal
black tail-band. Non-breeding adult has white neck collar and duller bill-tip. Juvenile and immature
have duller black upperparts, dark tip to bill, greyish-pink legs and white neck collar. Gregarious.
Voice Noisy; common call far-carrying kleep-kleep and a disyllabic pick-pick. Habitat Open areas
near lakes and rivers; in winter mainly coastal. Note Passage hatched, rare inland; winters on all
coasts, some remaining in summer.Crab-plover Dromas ardeola WV, rb
L: 39. W: 77. Distinctive with large head and straight, massive bill. Adult winter and immature have
dark streaks on crown and nape. Juvenile shows streaking on rear crown, greyish mantle, scapulars
and tail, and at distance could be mistaken for a gull. In flight, shows white wings with blackish
flight feathers and long trailing legs; flight slow with stiff wingbeats and head sunk into shoulders.
Often gregarious. Voice Noisy; shrill tchuk-tchuk-tchuk near nest; alarm a sharp kjep; in flight chee-
rruk, often by night. Habitat Coasts, mudflats, coral reefs; never inland. Nests in tunnel excavated
in sandy ground; colonial. Note Disperses to hatched areas.Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus RB, PM, WV
L: 37. W: 75. Exceptionally long, deep-pink legs and slim black-and-white body; walks with high,
graceful carriage. In flight, white with uniform black wings and obvious long trailing legs. Female
has slightly browner mantle and scapulars. Non-breeding adults have dusky head and neck marks.
Juvenile and immature brownish above with greyish crown and hindneck and white trailing edge to
wings in flight. Voice Noisy in breeding area; a variable sharp kek, high-pitched continuous kikikikik
or kee-ack. Habitat Shallow fresh or brackish water, estuaries. Note Range expanding; passage
and winter hatched.Pied Avocet Recurvirostra avosetta wv, pm
L: 44. W: 79. Slender, pied wader with mainly white appearance. Black crown and hindneck
and long, thin, upcurved bill distinctive. Flight stiff-winged and flickering, showing white wings
with prominent black markings and long trailing grey-blue legs. Juvenile tinged brown on black
parts, and white is mottled buff on upperparts. Walks steadily and delicately with head down
when feeding in shallow water. Gregarious. Voice Noisy on breeding grounds; most common call
a repeated bluit-bluit. Habitat Saline, mudflats, estuaries and sandbanks; nests colonially near
shallow water. Note Passage and winter hatched.