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Australian Pied Oystercatcher (Haematopus longirostris)

The Australian Pied Oystercatcher is a coastal, ground nesting shorebird found around mainland Australia, Tasmania and southern Papua New Guinea. On works sites, nests and flightless chicks can be difficult to see on open beaches, dunes and estuary margins, so vehicles, dogs, machinery and people can cause direct harm. The species is Endangered in New South Wales, Rare in South Australia and Tasmania, and listed as Priority 4 in Western Australia. It is treated as a near threatened equivalent in those states, and is protected wildlife in Queensland.

Conservation status

New South Wales, Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016: Endangered.

South Australia, National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972: Rare.

Breeding season

Australian Pied Oystercatchers are resident in Australia and can be present year round. Breeding is mainly from August to January in New South Wales, while breeding activity in Tasmania generally extends from September to March, with timing varying between regions and years.

Breeding mode: Solitary territorial pairs nest on the ground. Pairs may reuse traditional territories and nest sites for many years.

Clutch size: Usually 2 eggs, with a range of 1 to 3 eggs recorded.

Nest site: A shallow scrape above the high tide mark, on sand, soil, shingle, shell grit, beach wrack, lagoon shores, sandbanks or estuarine islands.

Incubation: About 4 weeks.

Young: Chicks are precocial and can run soon after hatching. They cannot fly until about 7 weeks old, or about 2 months in some accounts.

Breeding frequency: Usually one brood per year. Pairs may make multiple nesting attempts, with relaying recorded up to twice after nest failure.

Age at maturity: Not recorded.

Breeding timing varies between regions and years, and repeated nesting attempts after loss can extend activity beyond the usual season.

  • Breeding, nesting and laying: Nesting and laying are documented from August to January, with the strongest overlap expected during spring and early summer.
  • Eggs and dependent chicks: Eggs and dependent young may be present from late winter through summer, and replacement attempts can extend the period.
  • Resident presence and foraging: Adults remain in Australia year round and forage on intertidal beaches, estuaries, sandflats and wave wash zones.
  • Winter group movements and food following: Some resident birds move in groups during winter to follow food resources, but this is not migration from Australia.
  • Foraging and high tide roosting: Foraging and roosting occur year round, with birds using open beaches, sand spits, islands, estuarine shorelines and other clear locations.
  • Highest clearing risk: Clearing and construction are most likely to harm nests, eggs and dependent chicks from August to March, particularly during spring and summer.

Identification: Appearance and size

The Australian Pied Oystercatcher is a large, distinctive black and white shorebird. It is usually seen alone or as a pair on the upper beach, estuary margin or intertidal flats.

Adults have a black head, back and breast, with white underparts, rump and tail. The wings are black with a narrow white bar and white underwing coverts.

The bill, eye ring, iris and legs are red to orange red. The legs are stout and pinkish red. Males and females look similar, although a female may have a slightly longer, more slender bill when both birds are together.

Adults are about 45 to 50 cm long.

Identification: Calls and similar species

The usual alarm call is a loud, sharp, high pitched piping call, often written as ‘kurvee-kurvee-kurvee’. The call becomes faster and more urgent when a nest or chick is approached.

The Sooty Oystercatcher is the main similar species. It has a similar red bill, eyes and legs but is entirely black. The Australian Pied Oystercatcher has obvious white underparts and a white rump.

  • Check the plumage before relying on a distant silhouette.
  • Treat repeated alarm calling, circling or short runs away from one area as a possible sign of a nest or chick nearby.

Identification: Field signs

Nests are shallow scrapes and may be almost invisible against sand, shell grit, shingle or small stones. They can occur among seaweed, driftwood, sparse vegetation or other beach debris.

Adults may walk quietly away from a nest or crouch and call from a distance. A chick may remain hidden in dune vegetation, wrack or beside a rocky shoreline rather than moving immediately when people approach.

  • Look for a shallow depression above the high tide mark.
  • Scan the ground ahead before walking, driving or positioning equipment.
  • Do not use droppings, stains or odour as primary detection signs. They are not reliable field indicators for this species.

Distribution: Australian range

The Australian Pied Oystercatcher occurs around the Australian coastline and is recorded in every Australian state and territory listed for this profile. It is patchily distributed, with important concentrations in coastal Tasmania and parts of Victoria, while the New South Wales population is small and scattered.

The species is mapped in New South Wales, the Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia. It occurs around mainland Australia and Tasmania, including beaches, bays, estuaries and coastal islands.

In New South Wales it occupies beaches and inlets along the entire coast, although suitable habitat is fragmented and occupied patches are widely separated. The species is most common in coastal Tasmania and parts of Victoria, including Corner Inlet.

  • New South Wales, entire coastline, with fewer than 200 breeding pairs estimated in the state.
  • Tasmania, including the east, south east, north east and north west coasts.
  • Victoria, including Corner Inlet and other coastal areas.
  • Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory, mainly in coastal habitats.

Distribution: Regional movement and overseas range

The Australian Pied Oystercatcher is resident rather than a long distance migrant. Local movements can occur between nearby beaches, estuaries and feeding areas, and birds may gather or move during winter when following food resources.

The species is also reported from southern Papua New Guinea. Birds in eastern New South Wales may interchange with Queensland birds, and southern New South Wales birds may interchange with Victorian birds.

Distribution: Listings relevant to projects

The species is Endangered in New South Wales. It is Rare in South Australia and Tasmania, and Priority 4 in Western Australia. These South Australian, Tasmanian and Western Australian categories are treated as near threatened equivalents for this profile.

In Queensland, near threatened animals are protected wildlife. Tampering with a breeding place may require a species management program. Check the current state approval and fauna handling requirements before works begin.

  • Confirm the listing that applies at the work location.
  • Use the highest level of survey and site protection required by the relevant approval.
  • Obtain advice before disturbing a nest, egg, chick, breeding pair or occupied breeding area.

Habitat: Coastal landforms

Look for the Australian Pied Oystercatcher wherever open coastal ground meets tidal water. The species needs a clear view of approaching predators and access to nearby intertidal feeding areas.

Suitable areas include open ocean beaches, estuary sand spits, sandbanks, sand islands, islands, bays, inlets and intertidal flats. The species also uses sandy, muddy, stony and rocky estuarine margins.

Breeding and roosting areas may occur on the dry upper beach, near the high tide mark, on gently sloping dune faces and along open estuarine shorelines.

  • Open beaches with sparse ground cover.
  • Estuary mouths, tidal lagoons and sand spits.
  • Shell grit, shingle and low, open dune areas.
  • Coastal islands and undisturbed foreshore margins.

Habitat: Vegetation and site features

Open native grassed dune faces can provide nesting habitat. Chicks may shelter in foredune vegetation, marram grass, low scrub or beside rocks.

Nesting habitat can be overlooked where birds use saltmarsh, grassy areas, roadside verges, pastures or open ground inland from the beach. Such sites may have poor breeding success, but they still require assessment if birds are present.

  • Keep watch around wrack lines, driftwood and sparse vegetation.
  • Inspect open ground up to 200 m inland where nearby coastal habitat is disturbed or unsuitable.
  • Avoid assuming that an apparently unused patch is safe to occupy. Nesting pairs can be sparse and suitable habitat may remain unoccupied for periods.

Habitat: Roosting areas

At high tide, shorebirds gather where feeding flats are covered. Open sand spits, beaches, sea walls, estuary margins, lagoons and sheltered embayments may be used.

Roosting birds need an unobstructed view. Tall vegetation, structures, vehicles and people close to a roost can make the site unsuitable.

  • Check high tide roosts as well as feeding areas.
  • Include nearby shallow water and sheltered margins in the site assessment.
  • Keep plant, material and vehicle storage away from open roosting ground.

Foraging habitat: Foraging areas

The Australian Pied Oystercatcher feeds along the waterline and in the wave wash zone. It follows falling tides across exposed sand, mud and rock to reach marine invertebrates.

Inspect exposed intertidal flats, sandy beaches, estuary margins, sandbanks and rocky shorelines. Feeding areas may be used at low tide and can extend around the mouths of rivers, lagoons and bays.

Pairs may defend small territories around their nest and use nearby foreshore foraging habitat. An average foraging range of about 400 m of beach per pair has been recorded in Tasmania.

  • Wave wash and the strip between the high and low water marks.
  • Wet sand and mud exposed by a falling tide.
  • Shell beds, pipi habitat and areas with beach cast seaweed or seagrass.
  • Tidal channels and shallow estuarine margins.

Foraging habitat: Food and feeding signs

Food includes bivalve molluscs, pipis, worms, crabs and small fish. The strong, chisel shaped bill is used to prise open or break into shells.

The pipi, including Donax deltoides in New South Wales and Katelysia scalarina in Tasmania, is an important recorded food source.

  • Walking or running along the receding waterline.
  • Probing wet sand or mud with the bill.
  • Handling or opening shellfish on exposed flats.
  • Repeated use of the same open foreshore section by a pair.

Foraging habitat: Works near feeding habitat

Vehicles, bicycles and machinery can compact beach sediment and reduce aquatic invertebrates. Removal of beach cast seaweed and seagrass can also reduce food for shorebirds.

Dredging, altered drainage, channelisation, pollution and changes to estuary hydrology can reduce feeding habitat or separate nesting areas from the waterline.

  • Keep vehicles on approved routes and off intertidal flats.
  • Retain natural wrack where it does not create a separate safety or environmental issue.
  • Prevent sediment, fuel, concrete washout and contaminated runoff from entering estuaries.
  • Plan access routes so adults and chicks are not forced across roads, channels or adjoining territories.

Breeding habitat: Nest location and structure

Breeding pairs nest as solitary territorial pairs rather than in colonies. Nests are easy to crush and can be missed because the eggs and scrape are well camouflaged.

A nest is usually a shallow scrape in sand above the high tide mark. It may be on a beach, estuary beach, sandbank, sand island, lagoon shore, saltmarsh or grassy area.

Scrapes may be among shell grit, shingle, small stones, seaweed, driftwood or sparse vegetation. Pairs often reuse traditional nesting territories over many years.

Typical clutch: Two eggs, with a recorded range of one to three eggs.

Incubation: About four weeks.

Breeding season: Spring to early summer. Recorded periods include August to January in New South Wales and September to March in Tasmania.

  • Dry upper beach between the high water mark and the dunes.
  • Open, native grassed, gently sloping dune faces.
  • Estuary sand spits and exposed lagoon shores.
  • Unusual inland sites such as sports grounds, roadside verges, pastures and open ground.

Breeding habitat: Adults, eggs and chicks

Adults may leave quietly when a person approaches, rather than defending the nest at close range. Repeated alarm calls, distraction behaviour or an adult walking away from one patch should be treated as a possible breeding response.

Chicks leave the nest within several days and can run soon after hatching. They remain flightless for about seven weeks and may hide in vegetation, wrack, rocks or low dune cover.

  • Do not follow an adult that moves away from you.
  • Stop work and withdraw if a chick is seen, even when no nest is visible.
  • Search the surrounding open ground and likely refuge cover from a distance.
  • Treat eggs, chicks and the breeding place as protected until cleared by the relevant fauna ecologist or approval authority.

Breeding habitat: Breeding season controls

Summer recreation and coastal construction often overlap with breeding. Disturbance can expose eggs and chicks to overheating, flooding and predators, and can prevent adults from incubating or feeding young.

Pairs may relay after a nest loss, so a cleared area can become active again later in the season.

  • Complete a pre-clearance inspection before each new work stage.
  • Mark nest and chick areas with a visible exclusion boundary that does not attract people towards the nest.
  • Keep workers, dogs, vehicles and machinery outside the exclusion area.
  • Reinspect after storms, high tides, earthworks, access changes or reported bird activity.

Sheltering habitat: Roosts and high tide refuge

The species uses open coastal sites for roosting and nearby vegetation or rocky cover for chicks. Shelter must still allow adults and roosting birds a clear view of predators and people.

At high tide, look for birds on open sand spits, beaches, sea walls, islands, estuary margins, lagoons and sheltered embayments. Roost sites may be shared with other shorebirds, although Australian Pied Oystercatchers generally breed as individual pairs.

At night, shorebirds may use shallow sheltered water where they can stand and watch for terrestrial predators.

  • Inspect potential roosts during high tide, not only at low tide.
  • Record the position of birds, nearby access tracks and any proposed lighting or noisy work.
  • Keep temporary fencing, stockpiles and compounds away from open roosting ground.

Sheltering habitat: Chick refuge

Newly hatched chicks may hide in foredune vegetation, marram grass, low coastal plants, wrack, rocky shorelines or other cover near the nest. They may not emerge immediately after people leave.

A hidden chick can remain vulnerable while adults wait at a distance or carry food to it.

  • Check low vegetation and rock edges around active territories.
  • Keep people and dogs out of likely refuge areas.
  • Do not clear cover around a nest or chick unless the action has been assessed and approved.
  • Allow time for chicks to emerge before reopening an area.

Sheltering habitat: Maintaining suitable shelter

Retain natural dune shape, low native vegetation and undisturbed foreshore structure where practicable. Avoid creating tall barriers or dense vegetation that block the birds' view across a roost.

Balance cover for chicks with the need for open sightlines. Site specific advice is needed where revegetation, weed control or coastal engineering will change the structure of the foreshore.

  • Avoid unnecessary removal of foredune cover near breeding territories.
  • Control invasive weeds without driving people or machinery through active breeding areas.
  • Do not place lighting, signs or structures where they obstruct a roost's view or increase night disturbance.

Threats: Direct disturbance and trampling

Most development risks are local and preventable. The main controls are early detection, exclusion of active breeding areas, careful access planning and protection of intertidal food resources.

People, dogs, four wheel drive vehicles, bicycles and machinery can flush adults, crush nests, injure chicks or separate chicks from their parents. Repeated disturbance can reduce incubation and feeding time.

Open ocean beaches are especially exposed because vehicles can travel close to nests and chicks.

  • Use clearly marked access routes and speed controls.
  • Keep dogs out of active breeding and roosting areas.
  • Stop work when an adult shows repeated alarm behaviour or a chick is found.
  • Use a fauna spotter catcher with coastal shorebird experience for high risk works.

Threats: Predation

Foxes, cats, feral pigs, dogs, ravens, gulls and other predators can take eggs and chicks. Artificially high Silver Gull numbers can add pressure at some New South Wales sites.

Human disturbance may increase predation by exposing eggs and chicks or drawing predators towards a breeding area.

  • Remove food waste and other attractants from compounds and access points.
  • Do not feed dogs or wildlife near the foreshore.
  • Use an approved predator management program where predation is documented.
  • Avoid leaving nest markers or equipment that draw people towards nests.

Threats: Flooding, storms and climate pressures

High tides, storm surge, large seas, heavy rain, strong winds and rapid rises in coastal rivers can flood or bury nests. Sea level rise and more extreme weather may reduce the availability of safe nesting ground.

Nests placed near the high tide mark can be lost even when there has been no human disturbance.

  • Reinspect after storms and king tides.
  • Keep emergency response routes away from active nests where safe to do so.
  • Avoid placing fill, spoil or temporary structures on upper beach and dune nesting areas.
  • Plan coastal works to retain higher, open nesting habitat.

Threats: Habitat and food loss

Coastal development, reclamation, engineering works, vegetation encroachment, dredging and altered estuary hydrology can remove or fragment nesting and feeding habitat.

Vehicle use and commercial harvesting can reduce beach invertebrates and pipi resources. Pollution, sediment, urban runoff, agricultural runoff, oil spills and marine debris can further degrade estuaries and beaches.

  • Maintain a buffer around nesting, roosting and feeding areas during design and construction.
  • Prevent sediment and contaminated water from entering tidal systems.
  • Avoid unnecessary removal of seaweed, seagrass and shell material from feeding areas.
  • Include long term monitoring where works alter tidal flow, beach profile or estuary habitat.

Survey methodology: 1. Desktop assessment

Survey beaches, estuaries, sandbanks and nearby open ground where Australian Pied Oystercatchers may breed, feed or roost. Treat the species as resident, with breeding activity generally in spring and summer, and allow for local variation such as August to January in New South Wales and September to March in Tasmania.

Map the full coastal work area, including beaches, estuarine margins, sand spits, islands, intertidal flats, lagoon shores, saltmarsh and access tracks.

Review recent wildlife records, aerial imagery, tide data, coastal development plans and known breeding territories. Check whether the site is near a high tide roost or an area used by a long-established pair.

Identify likely nesting areas above the high water mark, open dune faces, shellgrit, shingle, sandbanks, wrack lines and sparsely vegetated ground. Include apparently unsuitable inland ground because birds have attempted to nest on sports grounds, verges, pastures and open ground up to 200 m inland.

Breeding pattern: Solitary territorial pairs, usually laying two eggs in a shallow scrape.

Nest location: Usually above the high tide mark, between the beach and dunes or on estuarine sandbanks.

  • Plan surveys around the breeding season and periods of suitable low tide for observing foraging birds.
  • Use a qualified ecologist familiar with beach-nesting shorebirds and the difference between the Australian Pied Oystercatcher and the wholly black Sooty Oystercatcher.

Survey methodology: 2. Field detection

Walk slowly through suitable habitat from a distance. Scan with binoculars before approaching any bird, nest or chick. Watch for adults running along the shoreline, alarm calling, performing distraction displays, or quietly walking away from a nest.

Search for shallow scrapes, two large camouflaged eggs, shell fragments, small stones, seaweed, driftwood or tracks around a nest. Do not approach closely enough to cause repeated nest departure.

Look for chicks sheltering in dune vegetation, marram grass, wrack, rocky edges or other cover. Chicks can run soon after hatching and may be concealed well away from the nest.

Flight development: Chicks generally cannot fly until about seven weeks, and may fly well at about two months.

Foraging range: An average of about 400 m of beach per pair has been recorded in Tasmania. Treat this as an indication only and assess the whole adjoining shoreline.

  • Survey beaches and estuaries during daylight, with good visibility and low wind where practicable.
  • Use low tide observations to assess foraging habitat and high tide observations to identify roosting birds and areas where birds are concentrated.
  • Repeat visits where a site is suitable but no birds are detected. A single negative visit does not clear a beach or estuary for works.
  • Avoid surveying during heavy rain, strong winds, poor visibility or unusually high seas unless the purpose is to assess storm impacts.

Survey methodology: 3. Timing and survey effort

Undertake a pre-construction survey as close as practicable to the planned disturbance. Repeat it if works are delayed, the footprint changes, a high tide or storm changes the beach, or birds establish a territory after the first survey.

For large or linear coastal projects, survey the entire footprint and adjoining habitat rather than only the proposed clearing line. Follow both sides of access routes because vehicles and equipment can affect feeding and nesting areas.

Where repeated monitoring is required, use the same observer or a consistent team, the same route and comparable tide conditions. This improves comparisons between visits.

  • Record survey date, start and finish time, weather, visibility, wind, tide stage and recent storm conditions.
  • Record survey effort, route, observers, equipment, habitat searched and any areas not accessible.
  • Use GPS to map all adults, pairs, nests, chicks, territories, roosts, foraging areas, tracks, access points and proposed exclusion zones.
  • Coordinate broader coastal surveys with local shorebird programs where possible. Long-term survey programs commonly revisit beaches during the breeding season and rotate less accessible beaches over several years.

Survey methodology: 4. Records and interpretation

Treat an adult pair, nest, chick, alarm response or defended territory as a potential breeding place until an ecologist confirms otherwise. Record non-breeding birds separately from breeding pairs.

Map observations precisely enough for construction crews to locate them without entering the habitat. Photograph the general setting from a distance, not the nest at close range.

Record threats that may affect the site, including dogs, vehicles, foxes, cats, gulls, ravens, pigs, flooding, erosion, vegetation encroachment, litter, lighting and loss of intertidal food resources.

  • Record the number and behaviour of birds, nest status, egg or chick observations, likely access routes and nearby roosts.
  • Record whether birds are feeding, resting, displaying, incubating, brooding, defending a territory or moving between the nest and foreshore.
  • Provide maps and photographs to the project manager, fauna spotter catcher and relevant land manager before works start.

Before habitat disturbance: 1. Approvals and permits

Avoid Australian Pied Oystercatcher habitat wherever practicable. Plan works around breeding activity, secure the required approvals and make the exclusion arrangements clear to every person entering the site.

Confirm the current conservation status for the jurisdiction and the proposed activity before finalising the work method. The species is listed as Endangered in New South Wales and Rare in South Australia. It is treated as a near threatened equivalent in Tasmania and Western Australia, and as protected wildlife in Queensland.

Check whether the action requires state approval, a wildlife research or handling authority, a threatened species permit, a disturbance authorisation or a permit for work in a reserve, beach, estuary or marine area.

The species is not listed under Commonwealth legislation in the cited NSW review. An EPBC referral may still be needed if the action may affect another listed threatened species, a listed migratory species, a Ramsar wetland or another matter of national environmental significance. Confirm this through the current EPBC self-assessment and agency advice.

In Queensland, do not tamper with a breeding place of a near threatened animal unless the activity is covered by the required species management program or other lawful approval. Obtain advice from the Queensland environment regulator before works begin.

  • Keep approvals, conditions, maps, survey reports and contact details at the site office.
  • Confirm whether separate approvals apply in New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, Western Australia, Victoria, the Northern Territory or Queensland.
  • Do not rely on a general clearing approval if it does not authorise disturbance to an active breeding place or handling of an animal.

Before habitat disturbance: 2. Avoidance and site layout

Redesign the footprint to retain nesting beaches, dunes, sandbanks, saltmarsh, estuarine shorelines, intertidal feeding areas and high tide roosts. Keep vehicle routes and laydown areas away from open beach habitat.

Set a clearly marked no-go area around each nest, chick refuge, defended territory and roost. Establish the buffer with the project ecologist and regulator, using the bird's behaviour, line of sight, terrain, tide, machinery type and duration of disturbance.

Use a larger exclusion area where adults repeatedly leave the nest, chicks are mobile, the site is open and noisy, predators are present, or works will continue for several days. Do not reduce a buffer only because the nest or chick is difficult to see.

Schedule noisy, dusty and vehicle-based works outside the local breeding period where feasible. Remember that resident birds remain present year-round and may make replacement nesting attempts after a nest loss.

  • Fence or flag exclusion areas before plant enters the site.
  • Keep dogs, domestic animals, recreational users and non-essential personnel out of breeding and roosting habitat.
  • Maintain access for adults between the nest or chick refuge and the shoreline. Do not fence birds away from feeding habitat.
  • Do not remove wrack, shells, driftwood or beach vegetation from a nesting or foraging area unless the approved ecological method specifically allows it.

Before habitat disturbance: 3. Pre-clearance check

Complete a final pre-clearance inspection on the day of works, or immediately before works if the site is tidal or highly dynamic. Inspect all ground that will be cleared, driven over, excavated, filled, drained, lit or occupied by machinery.

Check adjoining beach and estuarine habitat for birds that have moved since the formal survey. Reassess after storms, high tides, flooding, strong winds or changes to the work footprint.

If a nest, chick, breeding pair, roost or unusual concentration of birds is found, stop the relevant activity and obtain ecologist advice before proceeding.

  • Use binoculars and GPS, and inspect from outside any existing exclusion zone.
  • Brief the fauna spotter catcher on the nest locations, access limits, approved buffers, stop-work authority and emergency contacts.
  • Mark approved access routes and identify a safe retreat route for birds and workers.
  • Do not use clearing machinery to search for nests or chicks.

Before habitat disturbance: 4. Crew induction and controls

Give all workers a short site induction before entry. Show photographs or field marks, explain the loud alarm call, and describe the appearance and behaviour of adults, chicks and nests.

Explain that a quiet bird walking away may be concealing a nest. Workers must not follow, photograph closely, feed, chase, handle or relocate a bird.

Include beach driving, dog control, lighting, litter, noise, dust, predator attraction and reporting requirements in the environmental controls.

  • Nominate one fauna spotter catcher or qualified ecologist as the contact for wildlife issues.
  • Give that person authority to stop work immediately where a bird, nest, chick, roost or breeding place may be at risk.
  • Place signs at access points and exclusion fences. Make signs visible to contractors, the public and delivery drivers.
  • Record inductions, attendees, date, trainer and any changes to the approved method.

During habitat disturbance: 1. Sequential clearing and work control

Use a slow, controlled work sequence and protect the connection between nesting habitat, feeding areas and refuge sites. The fauna spotter catcher must be able to stop work without waiting for supervisor approval when an animal or breeding place is at risk.

Clear the smallest practicable area at one time. Complete the section nearest the exclusion zone first only where this will not push birds into active work areas. Keep a clear route for birds to move towards safe coastal habitat.

Use a fauna spotter catcher to inspect the work face, access route, stockpile area and vehicle path before each shift and after breaks or changes in plant.

Keep machinery, vehicles, workers and materials outside marked buffers. Prevent vehicles from driving along open beaches unless the approved method requires it and no reasonable alternative exists.

Stop work for high tides, flooding, severe weather, poor visibility or any change that makes the exclusion controls ineffective.

  • Use low-speed vehicle movements and a spotter when reversing near coastal habitat.
  • Cover or secure excavations, pipes, pits and open drains when unattended.
  • Keep food waste and rubbish secured so it does not attract foxes, dogs, gulls or ravens.
  • Do not use bright night lighting directed towards nests, chicks, roosts or the shoreline.

During habitat disturbance: 2. Stop-work response

Stop the relevant work if an Australian Pied Oystercatcher enters the work area, repeatedly alarms, performs distraction behaviour, leaves an active nest, exposes a chick, or is found injured.

Stop work and establish a temporary exclusion zone if a nest, eggs, chick, active breeding place, defended territory, roost or concentrated group is found. The fauna spotter catcher must notify the project ecologist and project manager immediately.

Do not assume that a bird has abandoned a nest because it is absent. Adults may leave quietly when approached and may remain hidden while a threat is present.

Resume work only after the ecologist confirms that the activity is lawful and the approved controls are effective.

  • Move people and machinery back along the access route used to enter the area.
  • Prevent workers and the public from gathering near the bird or nest.
  • Record the location, behaviour, time, activity, weather, tide and immediate actions.
  • Contact the relevant wildlife or environment authority if required by the approval or permit.

During habitat disturbance: 3. Handling and relocation

Do not handle an Australian Pied Oystercatcher, egg or chick unless the person is authorised under the relevant permit, approval or wildlife authority and handling is necessary for animal welfare or the approved activity.

Do not move a nest, eggs or chick to make room for works. Relocation is not a routine control for this ground-nesting species and can separate chicks from their parents or feeding habitat.

If a chick is mobile and in danger, keep people and plant away and obtain immediate advice. Parents may be nearby and may need access to the foreshore.

  • Use a trained wildlife carer, veterinarian or authorised wildlife officer for capture, transport and treatment.
  • Use a ventilated, secure container only when directed by the authorised handler.
  • Keep handling time short, minimise noise and heat, and record the chain of custody.
  • Release a rehabilitated or temporarily held bird only at an approved location and under advice from the treating professional or regulator.

During habitat disturbance: 4. Injured or dead animals

Keep the area quiet and prevent further contact with vehicles, dogs and machinery. Do not offer food or water unless directed by a veterinarian or authorised wildlife carer.

Contact the project ecologist, wildlife rescue service, veterinarian or relevant state wildlife authority. If the bird is dead, preserve the location and evidence where safe to do so.

Treat a dead adult, chick or egg as a possible incident requiring investigation, particularly if it may relate to vehicle movement, machinery, a dog, lighting, fencing or a breach of an exclusion zone.

  • Photograph the scene from a distance and record GPS coordinates.
  • Record species identification, injuries, visible cause, time found, weather, tide and witnesses.
  • Do not disturb a nest or carcass more than necessary for safety and authorised examination.

During habitat disturbance: 5. Daily records

Maintain a wildlife register throughout the works. Update the site map whenever a bird, nest, chick, roost or exclusion zone changes location.

Record all stop-work events, near misses, buffer breaches, injuries, mortalities, complaints and corrective actions.

  • Record date, time, observer, work activity, plant, location and outcome.
  • Record the approval or permit condition that applies to any handling, relocation or disturbance event.
  • Provide daily records to the project manager and include them in the environmental inspection report.
  • Escalate repeated disturbance, failed controls or declining breeding activity to the project ecologist and regulator.

After habitat disturbance: 1. Post-clearance inspection

Complete a wildlife and habitat inspection after each work stage, not only at final completion. Follow up every incident and confirm that birds can again move between nesting, roosting and feeding areas.

Inspect the cleared area, access routes, stockpiles, drains, pits, fences and adjoining foreshore after plant leaves. Look for birds, chicks, nests, eggs, carcasses, trapped animals and new hazards.

Check that no spoil, fencing, lighting, sediment, litter or construction material blocks movement between the nest area and the shoreline.

Remove temporary hazards as soon as the approved work stage is complete. Leave exclusion fencing in place where breeding activity continues.

  • Inspect after tidal cycles, heavy rain, flooding, strong winds and storm events.
  • Check all pits, pipes and excavations before they are backfilled or covered.
  • Report any new bird activity to the fauna spotter catcher and project ecologist.

After habitat disturbance: 2. Monitoring after works

Monitor retained habitat and nearby breeding territories for the period required by the approval, ecological management plan or regulator. Use the same mapped locations and survey approach used before works.

Look for continued pair attendance, incubation, chick survival, access to feeding habitat, roost use, disturbance behaviour and changes in vehicle or dog activity.

Where works affect an estuary, beach or lagoon, include water quality, sediment movement, erosion, vegetation growth and food resources in the monitoring review.

  • Visit during the breeding season for nesting outcomes and during suitable high tides for roost use.
  • Record adults, pairs, nests, chicks, fledged young, non-breeding birds and habitat condition separately.
  • Compare results with pre-work records and explain any change rather than assuming that absence means abandonment.
  • Continue monitoring after practical completion if habitat remains altered or construction impacts continue.

After habitat disturbance: 3. Relocated or treated animals

Obtain confirmation from the authorised wildlife handler about the condition, location and outcome of any treated or relocated bird. Do not release an animal into a work area, near an active nest, or where it cannot reach suitable feeding habitat.

Check that any temporary holding, transport, treatment or release complied with the permit and animal welfare requirements.

Where a chick or adult has been separated from its territory, seek advice on reunification before considering release elsewhere.

  • Record the handler, authority, date, location, reason for intervention and final outcome.
  • Map the release site and inspect it for traffic, dogs, predators, flooding and access to food.
  • Report failed release, further injury or death to the relevant authority and project manager.

After habitat disturbance: 4. Incident review and close-out

Review every nest disturbance, buffer breach, injury, mortality, unplanned lighting event and vehicle or dog incursion. Include the work sequence, weather, tide, people involved and controls that were in place.

Update the construction environmental management plan before the next work stage. Share the outcome with supervisors, subcontractors and the fauna team.

Close out the site only when records are complete, temporary hazards are removed, rehabilitation responsibilities are assigned and all approval conditions are addressed.

  • Hold a short incident review within the project reporting timeframe.
  • Change buffers, access routes, induction content or supervision where the original controls were not effective.
  • Submit statutory reports and approval reports by the required deadlines.
  • Retain maps, photographs, survey sheets, wildlife registers and correspondence with the project records.

Rehabilitation actions: 1. Restore nesting and feeding habitat

Restore coastal function, not just the cleared surface. Australian Pied Oystercatchers need open ground for nesting, unobstructed access to intertidal feeding areas and safe, open high tide roosts.

Reinstate stable, gently sloping beach and dune surfaces where this matches the surrounding habitat. Use clean local materials and avoid creating low depressions that collect water near the high tide mark.

Reconnect nesting areas with the foreshore and intertidal flats. Remove temporary roads, hardstand, spoil, pipes and fencing that block movement or reduce the available feeding area.

Retain suitable shellgrit, shingle, sand, sparse native grass and natural wrack where these occur locally. Do not create dense vegetation across open nesting habitat.

  • Use erosion and sediment controls that do not restrict bird movement or wash sediment into feeding areas.
  • Repair drainage and hydrological changes so nests and foraging habitat are not repeatedly flooded by project runoff.
  • Keep restored areas free of vehicle access until the surface is stable and the ecologist confirms that controls can be removed.
  • Use locally appropriate native plants only where vegetation is part of the natural habitat and does not obstruct open sightlines.

Rehabilitation actions: 2. Artificial nesting and roost features

Do not install nest boxes or bat boxes for this species. Australian Pied Oystercatchers are ground-nesting shorebirds and do not use hollows, caves or burrows.

Artificial nest scrapes or other ground-level nesting features should be considered only where a qualified shorebird ecologist and the land manager identify a genuine need. They must resemble the local beach or estuarine substrate and remain above the high tide mark.

Prefer protection and restoration of natural nesting ground over constructed nest sites. A constructed feature must not attract birds into a vehicle route, flood-prone area, predator hotspot or active construction area.

Roost structures are not a standard requirement for this species. Retain or restore open sand spits, beaches, estuarine shorelines and shallow, undisturbed high tide refuges instead.

  • Assess tides, erosion, storm exposure, predators, dogs, vehicles and public access before creating any artificial nest scrape.
  • Do not place an artificial feature where it could increase disturbance or separate chicks from feeding habitat.
  • Monitor any artificial feature through at least the relevant breeding period and remove or modify it if birds experience poor success or increased risk.
  • Obtain approval before changing a breeding place or installing a feature in a reserve, wetland or estuary.

Rehabilitation actions: 3. Weeds, predators and public access

Control invasive weeds where they fragment open nesting habitat or obscure the birds' view of approaching predators. Retain natural dune vegetation that provides chick refuge, while keeping the immediate nesting surface open.

Manage foxes, feral cats, pigs, dogs and other predators under the approved pest management program. Do not use control methods that create new risks for birds, chicks or other fauna.

Restore signs, gates and fencing that keep vehicles, dogs and people away from breeding and roosting areas.

  • Remove construction waste, food scraps, cable, netting and plastic that could entangle or be swallowed.
  • Use dog and vehicle controls at beach access points, particularly during the breeding season.
  • Avoid unnecessary clearing of wrack and seaweed because these materials support intertidal invertebrates and can provide nest camouflage.
  • Coordinate predator and access management with the land manager and local community.

Rehabilitation actions: 4. Water, lighting and construction legacy

Prevent turbid runoff, hydrocarbons, concrete washout, sewage and litter from entering estuaries, lagoons or intertidal feeding areas. Protect water quality and the invertebrate prey base.

Remove or shield lights that shine across nesting beaches, dunes, roosts or the waterline. Use the lowest practical intensity, direct light away from habitat and avoid unnecessary night lighting.

Review the project for lasting changes to tidal flows, shoreline erosion, sediment deposition, beach compaction and access.

  • Keep refuelling, chemical storage and washdown areas away from drainage lines and the foreshore.
  • Use spill kits and report every spill that could reach coastal habitat.
  • Reinstate natural drainage where construction has diverted water towards nests or feeding areas.
  • Inspect restored areas after rain, high tides and storms, and repair erosion or washouts promptly.

Rehabilitation actions: 5. Long-term monitoring

Monitor restored habitat for establishment of open nesting ground, use by adults, nesting attempts, chick survival, foraging access and roost use. Include nearby reference areas where practicable.

Continue monitoring long enough to detect whether the habitat remains suitable through breeding and high tide periods. The appropriate duration depends on the approval, project risks and restoration performance.

Use monitoring results to adjust fencing, weeds, predators, lighting, access, drainage and any artificial nest feature.

  • Map nests, territories, chicks, roosts and feeding areas with GPS at each visit.
  • Record breeding outcome, disturbance events, habitat condition, erosion, vegetation cover and predator signs.
  • Share results with the land manager, relevant authority and local shorebird program where appropriate.
  • Keep a maintenance schedule for signs, gates, fences, drainage, lighting and weed control.

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