The Eastern Hooded Plover (Thinornis rubicollis rubicollis) is a medium sized Australian shorebird about 20 cm in length, weighing in at less than 100 grams. This sub-species is endemic to Australia’s south eastern coastline, and can be found in scattered pockets from South Australia up to New South Wales. It is a diligent parent, a devoted partner, and an icon of Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula’s wild ocean beaches. Hooded Plover parents share their duties equally, from creating the nest scrape, to incubating eggs, to brooding chicks after hatching. They lay their eggs in scrapes directly on the beach sand, right out in the open. This is the same beach sand they share with many holiday makers and locals on the Mornington Peninsula, stunning shorelines that are also National Park conservation-status land.
Twenty-eight days later a tiny cotton ball sized chick hatches, flu !y and active, but unable to fly for another thirty-five days. However small it may be, this little chick can run around and feed itself from the day it leaves the egg, though it requires brooding from a parent to regulate body temperature for a short period after hatching. Once they can hit the sky Hooded Plover chicks tend to have long lives, but they have to make it that far first and most don’t.
The peak of their breeding season happens October to February, overlapping with Australia’s summer beach activities. Hooded Plover populations have been in decline for many years, with the bird now listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. Recent figures from Birdlife Australia show that the Mornington Peninsula has the third highest density of breeding Hoodies – as they are affectionately known- but one of the lowest chick survival rates over the last decade.
In the 2019-2020 season there were roughly 30 active breeding pairs on the Peninsula. Those pairs made 62 nests, and those nests contained 135 eggs, which in turn hatched just 28 chicks. But only five survived. That’s a pretty alarming result. I personally monitored one of those 28 hatchlings weekly. I watched it almost make it, I even named it Lewis. And then one day little Lewis was gone, disappeared with no explanation, as is the fate of most Hooded Plover chicks.
The more recent 2020-2021 season was a happy anomaly in that there were 79 nests (a single Hooded Plover pair will lay up to seven nests a season), with 49 chicks hatching and an extraordinary 21 fledglings surviving from the 30 pairs monitored. This improvement in breeding success during the COVID19 times of Summer 2020-2021 can perhaps be attributed to the lack of tourists and repeat lockdowns preventing a large portion of regular beach intrusion in Hooded Plover territories. Our Facebook page Friends of the Hooded Plover Mornington Peninsula also launched towards the end of 2020, helping inform more locals and Melbournians further afield of the plight of the Hooded Plover, possibly also contributing to a stellar year of fledging.
Studies continuously show that the highest risks to nests and chicks during the breeding season are: human disturbance, predators (such as Foxes, Magpies, Ravens and Gulls), habitat changes, and off-leash dogs. So plausibly, without the crowds of so many unaware or underinformed individuals frolicking on the beaches, the Hoodies were able to flourish.
But this is not something that can just be presumed to continue. In the current breeding season so far only two chicks have fledged, and there have been abundant chick and nests losses. Tourists are once again flocking to the peninsula’s ocean beaches for their summertime holiday activities and our hard-working Hooded Plover parents are once again struggling to hatch their nests and raise their chicks to fledging.
On the Mornington Peninsula the population has been stable for the last decade, remaining at approximately 30 pairs, though there are many suitable territories for Hooded Plovers which remain empty. According to Dr Grainne Maguire, Coastal Birds program leader for Birdlife Australia, Hooded Plover numbers in Victoria have risen from around 400 in the 1990’s up to 550 in 2010, and now to the current approximation of 700 birds. This rise in numbers can be attributed to the hard work by Birdlife Australia and volunteer groups.
Volunteer group Friends of the Hooded Plover Mornington Peninsula, made up of 56 members, has operated alongside Birdlife Australia and Parks Victoria for 11 years to monitor and protect these little shorebirds. Dr. Kasun Ekanayake of Birdlife Australia works with us closely on the Peninsula throughout the year. He visits the plovers and their nesting sites to gather data on their status and interference by beach goers, as well as data on predation by introduced foxes, cats and other avian species. In addition to this, Dr Ekanayake allows us to assist him in capturing, flagging, and measuring previously untagged birds (mainly new fledglings) at the end of every breeding season.
Our work is crucial to the survival of the Hooded Plover on the Peninsula, employing a variety of methods to safeguard the local population. This includes citizen science data recording, installing beach signage, running educational stalls and activities, watching over nesting and chick sites, and talking to beach visitors who may be unaware of Hooded Plovers or how to act around them. For a number of years, I have volunteered with the Friends group to monitor and protect the nesting plovers and their chicks. We are not alone in this work, and South Eastern Australia also has many other Friends of the Hooded Plover groups across various coastal locations.
A different avenue aimed at protecting and spreading awareness on threatened shorebirds like the Hooded Plover is The Overwintering Project organized by Kate Gorringe-Smith. Her project is an ongoing portfolio and exhibition series which features artwork – mostly prints – of a variety of shorebirds, and raises funds which are donated to shorebird conservation, including the Hooded Plover.
The local community and broader population can (and must) change the way they act on designated conservation-status ocean beaches, to assist in protecting vulnerable species like the Hooded Plover. That doesn’t mean don’t go to the beach. It just means be more aware of your natural surroundings when visiting the beach, and respect the endemic wildlife that calls it home.
There are five simple guidelines anyone can follow to help protect Hooded Plovers: Pay attention to any signs or ropes indicating nesting Hoodies and chicks on the beach, bring your dog to dog-friendly beaches rather than National Park beaches, take your scraps with you when you leave to prevent attracting scavenger predators, try to stay distant from any Hooded Plovers you see as they will leave their nest to draw you o ! leaving it open for predators, and finally walk below the high tide line where you will (hopefully) be well away from nests or chicks that may be camouflaged on the dry sand.
Anybody can still enjoy Victoria’s ocean beaches while following these small steps. At the same time, visitors to the beach can know that through their thoughtful actions they are supporting the survival of an iconic Mornington Peninsula bird. We want them to be seen on our beaches for many generations to come, and hope that with the help of the community these birds and their chicks will not only just endure, but instead be able to thrive. Because without help, the Hooded Plover may be destined for extinction.
References
Birdlife Australia. (2021). Hooded Plover. Retrieved from https://www.birdsinbackyards. net/species/Thinornis-rubricollis
Department of Agriculture, Water, and the Environment. (2014). Thinornis rubricollis rubricollis [Hooded Plover (eastern)] conservation advice. Retrieved from http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/ threatened/species/pubs/66726-conservationadvice.pdf
Email Communication with Dr Grainne Maguire (2022)
Mornington Peninsula Season 2020-2021 Debrief. (2021). Presentation by Dr Kasun Ekanayake of Birdlife Australia.
Mornington Peninsula Shire Community Profile. (2021). Retrieved from https://profile.id.com.au/ mornington-peninsula
Parks Victoria. (2021). Mornington Peninsula National Park. Retrieved from https:// www.parks.vic.gov.au/places-to-see/parks/ mornington-peninsula-national-park
State Wide Integrated Flora and Fauna Teams. (2021). Hooded Plover. Retrieved from https:// www.swi !t.net.au/cb_pages/sp_hooded_plover. php
