"I was surprised to see a pair of Pied Oystercatchers feeding in closely
mown lawn .....examination of photos this evening the only item I can
identify is a kind of grub"
I would guess your Oystercatchers were feeding on 'curl grubs' the larvae of
beetles of the Scarabidae family.
Many animals are very happy to eat these (including my families pet SC
Cockatoo, and even one of my Mum's dogs! if we dug them up for them!)
Whenever we do any digging at my mums place the Superb Blue Wrens are right
behind us going through the freshly turned dirt looking for disturbed
invertebrates, no doubt including tiny beetle larvae.
These larvae turn into beetles such as the beautiful iridescent 'Christmas
Beetle'. At times they are considered pasture and turf pests.
Other wildlife have learned to utilise the larvae of the related dung
beetles (some of which were introduced to Australia to control cow manure,
to reduce flies breeding in it. Our indigenous Dung beetles, accustomed to
much nicer roo poo etc., were unable to cope with the piles of stuff cows
produce!.) The local magpies, where I grew up, were very proficient at
flipping dry cow pats from which they extracted worms, slaters and dung
beetle larvae.
See following links for some info on these beetle larvae.
http://www.ento.csiro.au/biocontrol/scarabs.html
http://www.ento.csiro.au/ecowatch/Coleoptera/scarabaeidae.htm
Wendy Moore,
Coburg, Melbourne
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