The JournalStilt for the East Asian-Australasian Flyway AWSG Number 72 • November 2018 Australasian Wader Studies Group Ph: (03) 5327 9952. Email: [email protected] Conservation Officer: Dan Weller, Suite 2-05, 60 Leicester Street, Carlton, Vic, 3053, AUSTRALIA. Ph: (03) 9347 0757. Email: [email protected] STATE CONSERVATION OFFICERS QUEENSLAND Sandra Harding, 336 Prout Road, Burbank QLD 4156 Email: [email protected] NEW SOUTH WALES Joan Dawes, Stilt Ph: 02 9664 2546. Email: [email protected] ISSN 0726-1888 TASMANIA © AWSG Eric Woehler, (South Tas), 37 Parliament St, Sandy Bay Tas 7005. Ph: (03) 6223 1980. Email: [email protected] Ralph Cooper (North Tas), 7 Beach Rd, Legana Tas 7277. MISSION STATEMENT Ph: (03) 6330 1255. Email: [email protected] SOUTH AUSTRALIA To ensure the future of waders and their habitats in Australia Paul Wainwright, PO Box 255, Balhannah SA 5242 through research and conservation programmes and to Ph: 0429 678 475. Email: [email protected] encourage and assist similar programmes in the rest of the VICTORIA East Asian–Australasian Flyway. Doris Graham, 14 Falconer St, Fitzroy Vic 3068. OBJECTIVES Ph (03): 9482 2112. Email: [email protected] WESTERN AUSTRALIA . Monitor wader populations through a programme of Bill Rutherford (South WA – cutoff Onslow), 199 Daglish St, counting and banding in order to collect data on changes Wembly, Perth, WA 6014. Email: [email protected] on a local, national and international basis. Chris Hassell (North WA – cutoff Onslow), Global Flyway . Study the migrations of waders through a programme of Network PO Box 3089, Broome, WA 6725. Ph: (08) 9192 counting, banding, colour flagging, collection of 8585 or 0408 954 655. Email: [email protected] biometric data and use of appropriate scientific instruments. INTERNATIONAL REPRESENTATIVES . Instigate and encourage other scientific studies of waders such as feeding and breeding studies. NEW ZEALAND . Communicate the results of these studies to a wide North Island: audience through its journal Stilt and membership Adrian Riegen, 213 Forest Hill Rd, Waiatarua, Auckland 0612, newsletter the Tattler, other journals, the internet, the NEW ZEALAND. media, conferences and lectures. Ph: (09) 814 9741. Email: [email protected] . Formulate and promote policies for the conservation of South Island: waders and their habitat, and to make available Rob Schuckard, 4351 Croisilles French Pass Rd RD3, French information to local and national governmental Pass 7139, NEW ZEALAND. conservation bodies and other organisations to Ph: 3576 5371. Email: [email protected] encourage and assist them in pursuing this objective. OTHER COMMITTEE MEMBERS . Actively participate in flyway wide and international forums to promote sound conservation policies for Maureen Christie, Joris Driessen, Chris Hassell, Marcel Klaassen, waders. Grace Maglio, Clive Minton, Adrian Riegen and Inka Veltheim. Encourage and promote the involvement of a large band of amateurs, as well as professionals, to achieve these MEMBERSHIP OF THE AUSTRALASIAN WADER objectives. STUDIES GROUP Membership of the AWSG is open to anyone interested in the OFFICE BEARERS conservation and research of waders (shorebirds) in the East Asian–Australasian Flyway. Members receive the twice yearly Chair & International Liaison Officer: Doug Watkins, bulletin Stilt, and the quarterly newsletter Tattler. 99 MacKellar Cr, Cook, 2614, ACT, AUSTRALIA. Please direct all membership enquiries to the Membership Email: [email protected] Manager at BirdLife Australia, Suite 2-05, 60 Leicester St, Vice Chair: Phil Straw, P.O. Box 2006, Rockdale Delivery Carlton Vic 3053, AUSTRALIA. Centre NSW 2216, AUSTRALIA. Phone and fax: (02) Ph: 1300 730 075, fax: (03) 9347 9323 9597 7765. Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Chair of Scientific Committee: Danny Rogers 68, Ryans Annual Subscriptions: Australia & New Zealand A$40.00 Rd, Eltham, Vic 3095, AUSTRALIA. Overseas A$40.00 Ph: (03) 8418 0002. Email: [email protected] Institutions A$40.00 Editor: Greg Kerr, 20 Morgan Street, Port Lincoln, SA 5606, AUSTRALIA. Published in November 2018 Ph: +61 (0)8 8683 4454. Email: [email protected] Secretary: Alison Russell-French, PO Box 1045 Canberra ACT 2601, AUSTRALIA. Email: [email protected] Treasurer: Birgita Hansen, Federation University Australia, PO Box 663, Ballarat, Vic 3353. AUSTRALIA. Stilt 72 (2018): 1 TREASURER'S REPORT FOR 2017 A difference of $11 743.86 exists between the balance carried forward from 2016 and the opening balance for 2017. This was caused by an internal balance correction to align AWSG and BLA records. At the end of 2017, pending invoices to DPaW for MYSMA amounted to $13 636.36 (Income). The balance of $38 601.48 carried forward at 31 December 2017 includes commitments for purchase of satellite transmitters $12 500 and a contribution of $10 000 to the Global Flyway Network. (Expenses) Australasian Wader Studies Group Income and Expenses 1 January 2017 - 31 December 2017 INCOME EXPENSES Item 2017 2016 Item 2017 2016 $ $ $ $ Balance brought forward 47 528.09 54 027.52 Printing 2814.00 2789.30 Subscriptions 9685.98 8337.43 Postage/courier 2304.94 3789.22 Contracts - State Govts. 27 273.95 23 328.47 Surveys/reports/monitoring 44 570.57 11 429.83 Contracts - Other 0.00 Travel/accommodation/meals 8441.45 8197.43 Donations 39 460.00 8728.00 Conferences 297.29 Conference/meetings 0.00 Donations 500.00 Other income 2239.62 1383.31 Equipment/consumables 22 500.00 8000.00 Consultant fees 2574.00 Other expenses 4083.91 1827.00 Total income 78 659.55 41 777.21 Total expenses 87 586.16 36 532.78 Total accumulated funds 126 187.64 95 804.73 126 187.64 147 160.24 Balance carried forward 38 601.48 59 271.95 Membership statistics: Membership at the end of the year was: 2017 2016 Australia/New Zealand 245 231 Overseas (excl. NZ) 13 16 Institutions 5 12 Complimentary 53 77 Total 316 336 This summary of income and expenses for the past year is not an audited statement. It has been prepared for the information of AWSG members from records of transactions provided by BirdLife Australia relating to the Australasian Wader Studies Group. The AWSG is a special interest group of BirdLife Australia and members who wish to see the audited accounts of BirdLife Australia should refer to the Concise Financial Report included in the BirdLife Australia Annual Report 2015. 1 Stilt 72 (2018): 2-8 Migratory Movements of Grey-tailed Tattler from Moreton Bay, SE Queensland THE MIGRATORY MOVEMENTS OF GREY-TAILED TATTLER TRINGA BREVIPES FROM MORETON BAY, SOUTH-EAST QUEENSLAND JONATHAN T. COLEMAN1, DAVID A. MILTON2 AND HITOSHI AKUTSU3 1 22 Parker Street, Shailer Park, QLD, 4128, AUSTRALIA (Corresponding Author) Email: [email protected] 2 336 Prout Road, Burbank, QLD, 4156, AUSTRALIA. 3Hitoshi Akutsu, 3-23-15 Fijusaki Narashino Chiba, JAPAN. Between September 2006 and December 2016, a total of 553 Grey-tailed Tattler were caught in Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia and fitted with green, engraved leg flags facilitating identification of individuals in the field. Over the period of the study this has resulted in 2905 individual resightings within Moreton Bay and a further 76 resightings further afield, of which 70 were in Japan. Between 2011 and 2013, 41 geolocators were also fitted to obtain more detailed data on the migratory behaviour of this species. Three of these were retrieved and provided data on the timing, speed and individual variability in migration, as well as information on staging and breeding areas. Data from the three geolocators demonstrated that all three birds migrated to staging grounds in Japan before moving north to breed in Northern Kamchatka or Southern Chukotka. One bird had an additional staging period in the northern Philippines and all three birds arrived on the breeding grounds within three days of each other. Southward migrants took a more easterly and direct route back to their Australian non-breeding areas. INTRODUCTION 2006). Other studies into the migration of this species have shown that eastern birds are significantly heavier at The Grey-tailed Tattler Tringa brevipes is a medium departure than western birds (Branson et al. 2010). Since sized wading bird of the family Tringinae and is found 2006, in Queensland, leg flags have been engraved with throughout coastal Australia in the non-breeding season unique codes allowing individuals to be identified from (Austral summer), migrating north to Arctic breeding their leg flags both on migration and on their non- grounds in the northern hemisphere summer (Higgins and breeding grounds. This has allowed site fidelity both Davies 1996). The world population was estimated at within and between years to be studied. Grey-tailed approximately 50 000 (Bamford et al. 2008) but has Tattlers demonstrate high fidelity to feeding and roosting recently been revised upwards to an estimated population sites with individuals generally using the same sites both of 70 000 (Hansen et al. 2016). Ninety percent of the within and between non-breeding seasons (Coleman and Grey-tailed Tattler population spends the non-breeding Milton 2012). season in Australia (Bamford et al. 2008). Of these, there Despite advances in knowledge from leg flag are estimates of up to 22 000 individuals occurring in sightings there are some limitations, particularly in Moreton Bay (Thompson 1993) making the site highly observer rate biases, due to differences in human significant for this species. population densities and interest in shorebird matters Between November 1960 and March 2018, a total of throughout the flyway. As a result, there have been only 10 591 Grey-tailed Tattler were banded in Australia with two leg flag sightings of the Grey-tailed Tattler on the Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme bands (ABBBS breeding grounds (Minton et al. 2006). 2018) resulting in 1515 recoveries of Australian-banded Tracking studies can offer important complementary birds.