How do we manage a small chick?
- Jewels
- Nov 26, 2018
- 2 min read
Our chick is going to need some help this weekend as the weather forecast suggests great weather for people to flock to the beach.
I have included a map showing the zone that the oystercatcher family is now spending their days at. In the past oystercatchers have nested in this area because it is where the food is and has a lot of natural washed up debris (sticks, weed etc) to be able to hide the chick in.
I need volunteers for as long as you feel comfortable with being on the beach so that we can guide people around the site without causing disturbance to the birds. We need to make sure the chick can stay well fed so we need to keep disturbances to the family group to a minimum.
We will need to encourage people with kayaks that wish to cross across the beach in order to access the Basin to be well clear of any fence lines. Same goes for the yabby pumpers we need to ask them to stay around 50m away from the fence lines. Most people that are out for a walk on the Spit travel beach side. Those that are travelling creek side should be asked to consider travelling on the beach side instead so we can keep our chick safe.
The key message when we are talking with people, asking them to modify their path, is that pied oystercatchers in NSW are endangered. There is thought to be less than 200 breeding pairs left in NSW. It has been decades since a pair of oystercatchers has been able to successfully fledge (chick old enough to fly) on a Sydney beach. They are endangered because they only breed on a beach and there are so few beaches anywhere that are quiet enough to allow these birds to breed. Beach nesting birds are one of the most endangered species groups in the world.
If you have time on the weekend please let me know what day and times you would like to do. Be part of something huge in terms of species conservation, something not achieved in decades.
Here is a video that shows the day 2 old chick being taught to feed.
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