Bird of the week

WHILE it is rare on the KZN coast, Amanzimtoti is lucky to have a colony of these birds on the beach between Pipeline and Toti Golf Club.

This is especially remarkable when realising that there are less than 5,000 of these birds left on the SA coastline.

The African black oystercatcher’s voice is a loud piping ‘kik kik kik’, with several birds calling together called a ‘piping party’.

It flies with quick, shallow wingbeats and often calls in flight.

The bird forages along the waterline in the sand and crevices, and feeds on mussels, limpets, periwinkles, crustaceans, sea anemones and cucumbers.

Its nest is a scrape in the sand, about 4cm deep and 21cm in diameter.