BirdLife Australia's Coastal Birds team is training and encouraging bushwalkers to record incidental sightings of Hooded Plovers and Eastern Ground Parrots, two key coastal bird species, along remote areas of the Victorian Coastline.
Anyone can participate – from the keen hiker who treks long distances along far-off coastline, to the occasional walker who goes for a stroll on a secluded beach! Don't be shy!
In this online workshop, you'll learn about/how to:
- Conservation work to help coastal birds
- Hooded Plover and Eastern Ground Parrot ecology and behaviour
- Identify Hooded Plovers and Eastern Ground Parrots (without binoculars!)
- Record your observation in Birdata
A bit of background for the keen reader...
The Victorian coastline is home to some of the most threatened groups of birds in Australia. Coastal birds face a wide range of threats, from human disturbance on beaches to habitat loss and fragmentation. Amongst all birds of the Victorian coastline, Hooded Plovers and Eastern Ground Parrots are some of the most threatened and elusive species. Hooded Plovers depend on ocean beaches and Eastern Ground Parrots rely on coastal heathland, two key habitats that also support other vulnerable species.
Most knowledge about these species distribution and habitat comes from accessible stretches of coast. For example, within the Coastal Birds team, the Beach-nesting Birds Program works to improve the breeding success of Hooded Plovers, with help from hundreds of community volunteers who monitor breeding beaches. Nonetheless, isolated areas aren't monitored so often or at all, leading to a knowledge gap in the importance of remote habitat, with presumably less human threats and less modified, for coastal species. This is why we're reaching out to hikers that visit far-off coastal areas to record their observations.
This project is supported by Coastcare Victoria and the Victorian Government.
#CoastcareWeek22