Report on the 2018 Biennial Hooded Plover Count Amy Adams, Grainne Maguire and Joris Driessen CONTENTS Summary ......................................................................................................................................... 3 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 5 Methods ......................................................................................................................................... 6 Coordination ................................................................................................................................................. 6 Survey design ................................................................................................................................................ 6 New online data portal ................................................................................................................................. 7 Use of defined routes .................................................................................................................................... 8 Threat assessment ........................................................................................................................................ 9 Data entry and analysis ................................................................................................................................. 11 Data vetting ................................................................................................................................................... 11 Mapping ........................................................................................................................................................ 12 Results ............................................................................................................................................ 13 Survey timing and effort ............................................................................................................................... 13 Overall beach-nesting shorebird numbers .................................................................................................... 13 Banded and flagged birds .............................................................................................................................. 21 Hooded Plover coverage and densities ......................................................................................................... 21 Evidence of breeding ..................................................................................................................................... 28 Threat assessments ....................................................................................................................................... 31 Invasive weeds .............................................................................................................................................. 34 Volunteers ..................................................................................................................................................... 35 Discussion and Recommendations ................................................................................................. 37 Assessing population trajectory change over time ....................................................................................... 37 Learnings from the launch of the new online data portal ............................................................................ 38 The value of threat data ................................................................................................................................ 38 Coverage of remote coastline ....................................................................................................................... 39 Importance of flagged and banded bird data ............................................................................................... 39 Targeted surveys and further data analysis .................................................................................................. 40 Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ 41 References ...................................................................................................................................... 42 Appendices ..................................................................................................................................... 44 © Glenn Ehmke © Mark Lethlean SUMMARY The Hooded Plover (Thinornis cucullatus cucullatus) Biennial Count, occurring since 1980, rallies hundreds of volunteers across eastern mainland Australia to survey suitable ocean beach habitat for Hooded Plovers (eastern subspecies) over several weeks in November. During this count, all other species of beach-nesting shorebirds are also recorded, enabling an assessment of the use of ocean beach habitats by these species. Fixed routes, first established in 2010, are surveyed during the biennial count so that direct comparisons of species abundance can be made across years. During the 2018 count: • 2,709 kilometres of suitable coastline (i.e. Hooded Plover habitat) was identified in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, of which 2,333 km (86%) was surveyed. • A total of 1,515 Hooded Plovers (1,489 adults and 26 juveniles) were counted, comprising approximately 51% of the estimated world population of 3,000 birds (eastern subspecies) and 84% of the estimated mainland breeding population of 1,800 birds. • Regionally, Hooded Plover numbers were distributed as follows: o In Victoria (76% of habitat surveyed): 739 Hooded Plovers (737 adults and 2 juveniles). o In South Australia (91% of habitat surveyed): 716 Hooded Plovers (695 adults and 21 juveniles). o In New South Wales (86% of habitat surveyed): 60 Hooded Plovers (57 adults and 3 juveniles). A comparison with the 2016 count (1,563 Hooded Plovers; 2,291 km surveyed) revealed there were 48 fewer Hooded Plovers during the 2018 count (2,333 km surveyed). This apparent decrease could be attributed in part to 14% of suitable habitat not being surveyed in the 2018 count but also in part to stabilisation of the population after a boom breeding season in 2015/16, where juvenile survival in the first few years is known to be lower than adult survival. Within regions, there appeared to be a significantly higher number of Hooded Plovers in the regions of Discovery Bay, Yambuk to Swan Lake, 3 NSW Border to Point Hicks, Wilsons Prom to Waratah Bay, Mueller River to Lake Tyers, Seaspray to Corner Inlet in Victoria, and New South Wales South. A slight increase in Hooded Plovers was observed in the Fleurieu Peninsula and Eyre Peninsula regions in South Australia. The Queenscliff to Lorne region remained stable, while all other regions experienced decreases in Hooded Plover numbers, some even despite higher survey coverage compared with the 2016 count. The highest densities of Hooded Plovers were recorded in the regions of Warrnambool to Yambuk (2.49 birds/km) in far west Victoria, followed by San Remo to Inverloch (2.00 birds/km) on the Bass Coast, Mornington Peninsula (1.88 birds/km), Wilsons Prom to Waratah Bay (1.42 birds/km), Kangaroo Island (1.28 birds/km), Princetown to Warrnambool (1.24 birds/km), Yambuk to Swan Lake (1.21 birds/km), Seaspray to Corner Inlet (1.17 birds/km) and Phillip Island (1.12 birds/km). Most of these regions have been flagged as having the highest densities in the two previous count years, even if the order of significance has altered slightly, with the exception of Wilsons Prom to Waratah Bay, Yambuk to Swan Lake, and Seaspray to Corner Inlet regions. © Glenn Ehmke 4 INTRODUCTION The biennial Hooded Plover counts began in 1980 after initiation by the Australasian Wader Studies Group and from the 1990s, they were coordinated by Birds Australia, and then BirdLife Australia. The biennial count is a census-style count occurring over a single weekend in mid-November aimed at providing an accurate estimate of population size and distribution of the mainland population. Timing of the count coincides with when most Hooded Plovers are firmly established on their breeding territories, minimising the possibility of inaccurate counting due to bird movements. The count has always included Victorian and South Australian coastlines and has expanded in recent years to include most of the southern New South Wales coastline extending as far north as Jervis Bay. The count does not include the Tasmanian coastline which is divided into regions and surveyed by BirdLife Tasmania over varying timeframes due to lack of volunteers. This report details the results of the 2018 Hooded Plover biennial count, held on 17th–18th November 2018. The count was successful with many regions experiencing ideal weather conditions. A total of 367 participants undertook 539 surveys, totalling approximately 1,310 hours of surveying (not including travel to and from their designated survey routes). A total of 2,333 kilometres (86%) of suitable coastline habitat was surveyed, extending from 250 kilometres west of Ceduna in South Australia to just south of Jervis Bay in New South Wales. Currently, the population of the eastern subspecies of the Hooded Plover (Thinornis cucullatus cucullatus) which occurs in South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania and New South Wales, is estimated at 3,000