Greeting Chris and others.
--- Chris Hankel <> wrote: >
After waiting with bated breath and checking the
> glossaries of all my bird
> books, I still don't know what SIPO's are!
> Help!
I am posting this on Birding-Aus for the sake of
anyone else besides Chris who still doesn't know what
a SIPO is. It's an acronym for South Island Pied
Oystercatcher, Hemantopus finschi. It's a migratory NZ
species, previously considered conspecific with our
own Pied Oystercatcher (now often called OZPO by way
of comparison).
This species was first reported in Australia in
January 1999 when one bird was located among breeding
OZPOs at Patch's Beach, south of Ballina in northern
NSW. Later four birds were found at the same location
and at least one bird has been present at Manly boat
harbour, Brisbane for several months, generally on
very high tides (suggesting the bird usually roosts
further out in Moreton Bay). It is therefore quite
possible that we are seeing the beginnings of a
colonisation of this country by the birds, which have
been expanding their numbers and range in New Zealand
for some years.
The bird is very similar to OZPO but is roughly 15
percent smaller, with much shorter legs and a longer
bill contributing to a more horizontal stance. The
white wingbar is broader and better defined, reaching
the trailing edge of the wing, and the white rump
extends further up the back ending in a point.
Hope that summarises things and saves anyone else
still in the dark about this tres interesting bird.
Cheers
AS
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