Hooded plover monitoring
Hooded plovers (Thinornis cucullatus) are small shorebirds, identified by their distinctive black hood, bright red bill tipped with black, 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.
Why hooded plovers are under threat
Human activity and introduced predators are 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, or people. The tiny eggs and chicks are also at risk of predation by feral cats and foxes, and birds such as ravens and seagulls.
What is being done to protect hooded plovers?
Friends of Hooded Plover, Yorke Peninsula
On Yorke Peninsula Friends of Hooded Plover volunteers are working tirelessly to monitor, protect and raise awareness in the community about hooded plovers. View their Facebook site here
How you can help
You can help protect the hooded plover 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, as part of BirdLife Australia's Biennial Count.
‘Adopt a beach’ and regularly monitor a particular pair of hooded plovers throughout the breeding season.
If you see a hooded plover please:
- do not approach them
- report your sighting to the Northern and Yorke Landscape Board
Lead agency
BirdLife Australia
Partners
Northern and Yorke Landscape Board, Copper Coast Council, Yorke Peninsula Council.
Funding partners
Northern and Yorke Landscape Board and BirdLife Australia.
