The South Island Oystercatcher or South Island Pied Oystercatcher (Haematopus finschi) is one of the two common oystercatcher

Oystercatcher

The oystercatchers are a group of waders; they form the family Haematopodidae, which has a single genus, Haematopus. They are found on coasts worldwide apart from the polar regions and some tropical regions of Africa and South East Asia...

s found in New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. Its name is often contracted to the acronym "SIPO" (rhyming with "typo").

Description

Easily identifiable as a pied oystercatcher – a large wader with striking black and white plumage, long red-orange bill and red legs. Distinguish from pied morph of Variable Oystercatcher

Variable Oystercatcher

The Variable Oystercatcher is a species of wader in the Haematopodidae family.It is endemic to New Zealand. The Maori name is torea-pango. They are also known as 'red bills'....

 by white lower back, more white on wing and demarcation line of black and white on breast further forward. Distinguish from Pied Oystercatcher

Pied Oystercatcher

The Pied Oystercatcher, Haematopus longirostris, is a species of oystercatcher. It is a wading bird native to Australia and commonly found on its coastline. The similar South Island Pied Oystercatcher The Pied Oystercatcher, Haematopus longirostris, is a species of oystercatcher. It is a wading...

 by longer bill and shorter legs as well as forward demarcation line of white on back being pointed rather than square. Measurements: length 46 cm; wingspan 80-86 cm; weight 550 g.

Distribution and habitat

The South Island Pied Oystercatcher is endemic to New Zealand where it breeds inland on the South Island

South Island

The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...

, after which most of the population moves to estuaries and harbours on the North Island

North Island

The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...

. It has been recorded occasionally as a vagrant on Norfolk Island

Norfolk Island

Norfolk Island is a small island in the Pacific Ocean located between Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia. The island is part of the Commonwealth of Australia, but it enjoys a large degree of self-governance...

, Lord Howe Island

Lord Howe Island

Lord Howe Island is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, directly east of mainland Port Macquarie, and about from Norfolk Island. The island is about 11 km long and between 2.8 km and 0.6 km wide with an area of...

 and the eastern coast of mainland Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. Its breeding habitat comprises braided river

Braided river

A braided river is one of a number of channel types and has a channel that consists of a network of small channels separated by small and often temporary islands called braid bars or, in British usage, aits or eyots. Braided streams occur in rivers with high slope and/or large sediment load...

 systems, open paddocks and cultivated land, lake beaches, subalpine

Subalpine

The subalpine zone is the biotic zone immediately below tree line around the world. Species that occur in this zone depend on the location of the zone on the Earth, for example, Snow Gum in Australia, or Subalpine Larch, Mountain Hemlock and Subalpine Fir in western North America.Trees in the...

 tundra

Tundra

In physical geography, tundra is a biome where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. The term tundra comes through Russian тундра from the Kildin Sami word tūndâr "uplands," "treeless mountain tract." There are three types of tundra: Arctic tundra, alpine...

 and herbfield

Herbfield

Herbfields are plant communities dominated by herbaceous plants, especially forbs and grasses. They are found where climatic conditions do not allow large woody plants to grow, such as in subantarctic and alpine tundra environments...

s. Non-breeding habitat includes coastal estuaries, bays, beaches, sandflats and intertidal mudflat

Mudflat

Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats, are coastal wetlands that form when mud is deposited by tides or rivers. They are found in sheltered areas such as bays, bayous, lagoons, and estuaries. Mudflats may be viewed geologically as exposed layers of bay mud, resulting from deposition of...

s.

Voice

Piping calls, used socially and aggressively; also piercing alarm call and a quiet flight call.

Breeding

Nests in sand scrapes on farmland or gravel banks in braided rivers. Clutch usually 2, sometimes 3, brown eggs, blotched dark and pale brown. Incubation period 24-28 days, with both sexes incubating. Young precocial

Precocial

In biology, the term precocial refers to species in which the young are relatively mature and mobile from the moment of birth or hatching. The opposite developmental strategy is called "altricial," where the young are born or hatched helpless. Extremely precocial species may be called...

 and nidifugous

Nidifugous

Nidifugous organisms are those that leave the nest shortly after hatching or birth. It is derived from Latin nidus for "nest" and fugere meaning "to flee". The terminology is most often used to describe birds and was introduced by Lorenz Oken in 1916...

; fledging 6 weeks after hatching.

Conservation

The population of this species declined, mainly because of hunting, during the late 19th century and early 20th century but, with legal protection since 1940, has since been increasing. In 2002 the total population was estimated to be 110,000. Its conservation status is of Least Concern

Least Concern

Least Concern is an IUCN category assigned to extant taxon or lower taxa which have been evaluated but do not qualify for any other category. As such they do not qualify as threatened, Near Threatened, or Conservation Dependent...

.