Hooded Plovers project

Hooded Plovers (Thinornis cucullatus) are small shorebirds, easily identified by their distinctive black hood, red circle around the eye and orange stalk-like legs. The Hooded Plover is listed as vulnerable in South Australia and nationally, meaning the birds are considered to be facing a high risk of extinction. A national survey conducted in 2014 found less than 300 birds on Yorke Peninsula.

Why Hooded Plovers are under threat

Human activity and introduced predators are the major threats to Hooded Plovers. Nesting at the base of the sand dunes during spring and summer on Yorke Peninsula’s beaches, they will abandon eggs and chicks if persistently disturbed by off-road vehicles, dogs, people and foxes.

What is being done to protect Hooded Plovers?

Beach sessions

The Northern and Yorke Landscape Board hosts events on our beaches each summer. Inviting beach-goers and dog walkers to view breeding pairs from a safe distance, we explain the nesting habits of the Hooded Plover and how they can help their conservation.

Friends of Hooded Plover

On Yorke Peninsula Friends of Hooded Plover volunteers are working to monitor, protect and raise awareness in the community about Hooded Plovers. View their Facebook site here

Young Environmental Leaders

Working with schools, the Northern and Yorke Landscape Board regularly run education sessions for local and visiting school children. The students visit the beach and learn about the importance of beaches as habitat.

How you can help

You can help protect the Hooded Plover at the beach by:

learning to identify Hooded Plovers
keeping your dog on a leash when at the beach – especially during spring and summer
only walking below the high tide mark during the nesting season
not driving on the beach or dune areas
riding your horse at low tide as close to the water’s edge as possible
moving away quietly when you see Hooded Plovers

Volunteers are always needed and you can commit to as much or as little involvement as you’d like.

Volunteer for one day every two years to walk a designated beach and count the number of birds you see.
‘Adopt a beach’ and regularly monitor a particular pair of Hooded Plovers throughout the breeding season.

If you see a Hooded Plover please: