These are a large wader found worldwide and although widespread on the Australian mainland are an uncommon visitor to Tasmania. On the Capricorn Coast they are quite common and can be seen in small groups at our fresh and saltwater wetlands, they are almost always present around Lake Mary and can often be seen at the Kinka wetlands.
They feed on aquatic insects, crustaceans, small fish, molluscs and worms, pecking at prey on the surface or probing and scything through the sediment.
Males and females are indistinguishable and the nest is a simple shallow scrape on the ground in which 3 or 4 eggs are laid, as with most of our wetland birds the breeding period is variable depending on conditions.
Young birds lack black on the back of the neck and have a smudged grey crown which extends down the back of the neck as the birds get older. In the photo on the left you can see this transition clearly with one of the birds still with a grey crown while other older birds are developing the black on their neck, the bird third from the left has adult plumage.
This is No 24 in a series
of articles on local birds that I'm writing for the Capricorn Coast Mirror, to see the list of articles so far published follow the link below.
