Scientific Research - Hooded Plover

Xavier Warne
Scientific Report – The Hooded Plover - Thinornis rubricollis

Synopsis
The Hooded Plover is small bird native to Australia. They are found in coastal areas and nest in the area between the foreshore and the dune. They are listed as Vulnerable with only around 60 birds in South Australia. This is due to human activities like 4x4 driving and walkers crushing nests, animals like seagulls, foxes and dogs eating eggs and changing climates. The main solution to this problem is to raise awareness for the Hooded Plover to prevent further negative human interactions, especially by the government or to begin breeding in captivity or close monitoring.
Method
Drive to West Bay in the Innes National Park on the York Peninsula, South Australia.
Assign tasks for each member of the team; a scribe to record results, a threat locator to locate possible threats to the Hooded Plover, a GPS operator to record GPS coordinates of Hooded Plover nests and two camera operators to take photographs and photographs.
Walk to GPS coordinate S 35° 14.109 E 136° 49.914.
Walk slowly along the hard sand near the water on the beach, heading for the cliffs on the opposite side of the beach. If you spot some Hooded Plovers, keep a safe distance and try your best to not disturb them.
Scan for Hooded Plover activity. Also scan for threats like dogs, humans, cars, seagulls, horses, rubbish, foxes, ravens and motorbikes, and their relevant tracks.
Record positions of nests, threats and birds, take photographs and footage, record environmental conditions bird populations and threats levels.
Stop at GPS coordinates S 35° 14.496 E 136° 49.986 and return home and analyse results.
Results
According to our results, West Bay is home to no Hooded Plovers. This is strange because West Bay is a good place for them to live because it is sheltered from wind, relatively untouched by civilisation and not overly popular, inaccessible to vehicles which may destroy nests, has no surf activity and therefore no surfers trampling the beach, scarce amounts of egg eating seagulls and there is plenty of seaweed for the plovers to eat. One possible reason why we didn’t see any Hooded Plovers was that it was a fairly hot day, around 28°, sunny and fairly humid. These factors may have caused resident Hooded Plovers to seek refuge in the secluded shade of the dunes or rocks. Also the presence of us, the researchers may have scared the birds and made them hide. There was one pair of prints, either a dog or fox, that ran a long the beach and it is possible that the dog/fox may have eaten or driven away the Hooded Plovers. There were only two seagulls spotted for the whole time we were there but they seemed to just be stopping off and didn’t seem to have any nests nearby so I doubt they had or are having any effect on the Hooded Plovers.
Discussion
The fact that there were no Hooded Plovers on a beach that seems like it would be ideal for them to inhabit is not as bad as it seems, it is quite a small beach and there are many other beaches in the Innes National Park and Hooded Plovers have been spotted elsewhere. It would’ve been good if there were some there and there probably were, we were just unable to see them. Hooded Plovers in South Australia are listed as Vulnerable and must be protected, the beaches in the Innes National Park are good for the rehabilitation of the Hooded Plover because pest species are rare, cars do not drive on most beaches and not as many people go there as opposed to other beaches.
Conclusion
The Hooded Plover needs help if it is to survive. There are many factors that prevent the Hooded Plover from striving but many can be stopped or at least reduced. People can choose to leave known Hooded Plover inhabited beaches alone and drive, swim, surf, dune board or fish elsewhere. People who do these things at beaches containing Hooded Plovers and their nests put the survival of this species at risk. If they cannot go to other beaches they should at least be aware of nests and avoid them to the best of their ability. Organisations with more power can implement schemes to isolate Hooded Plovers from their predators or begin breeding in captivity. Also, if people were made more aware of the blight of the Hooded Plover through signage or education this could help.