Residents and visitors to Harrington and Old Bar are being called on to help protect endangered birds, the pied oystercatchers and their young.
With the nesting season now in full swing on the Mid North Coast, the Senior Project Officer with NSW’s National Parks and Wildlife Service, Katherine Howard said the distinctive red-billed oystercatchers had a difficult breeding season on Manning River beaches last year with only five out of 37 eggs surviving to fledge.
“Pied oystercatchers are familiar to many of us who visit the beach, with their striking black-and-white feathers and vivid red bill, they are hard to miss,” Ms Howard said.
“They are a fascinating, and really quite romantic, species. Once they’ve found their mate, these birds rarely stray too far from their partner,” she said.
“Sadly, these special shorebirds haven’t had a great run with their breeding seasons over the past few years.”
She said that in 2019 they lost eggs and chicks due to predation by people’s pets, with 14 eggs and at least one chick taken by off-leash dogs.
“While three pied oystercatcher chicks have already hatched successfully this season, and another five eggs are looking promising, the birds continue to be under threat,” Ms Howard said.
“We’re appealing to beachgoers to respect these special birds and give them the space they need to breed safely.”
She said temporary fencing had been installed for the summer around the breeding grounds with additional ‘island’ fences to be constructed around individual nests as necessary.
“The fenced nesting areas are closed to people, dogs and cars,” she said.
“Keep yourself, and your dog out of fenced nesting areas; only drive below the high tide line on designated 4WD beaches; walk dogs on leash, and only on designated dog beaches; walk close to the water to avoid stepping on a chick; and don’t approach, camp near or chase shorebirds as frightened birds leave eggs unguarded.”
Ms Howard said there were fewer than 200 breeding pairs of pied oystercatchers in NSW with eight breeding pairs recorded on Manning beaches in 2019.
