"Just another pair of those Oystercatchers- the rare ones." I told Josh, lowering my binoculars. It was getting to be a running joke with us- two weeks in New Zealand, and we had yet to spot the "common" Pied Oystercatcher (left), despite seeing the "rare" Variable Oystercatcher on every beach. The population of the Variable's is repeatedly quoted at around 4000 birds, and we were starting to think we'd seen every one of them. Later that morning we finally figured it out, when we stumbled on a flock of several hundred Pied Oystercatchers. They moved as a group, taking protection from the herd model, and feeding like locusts- no clam was safe in their path. We realized this is why we'd seen so few- there may be over 100'000 of them, but since they're always together, your chances of seeing one in any given spot are low. They probably to eat their way though a whole beach and move on. What a change from the "rare" and territorial Variable Oystercatchers. With one breeding pair per beach, the population is about right to cover the New Zealand coast. No wonder we've been seeing them everywhere.
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