Easter visitors are urged to protect Bass Coast shorebirds

PHILLIP Island Nature Parks is reminding the thousands of visitors heading to Bass Coast beaches over the Easter holidays to take extra care around vulnerable shorebirds during the final weeks of their breeding season.

Hooded plovers and fairy terns nest directly on open beaches making them highly exposed to disturbance from people, pets and vehicles. Even brief interruptions can cause birds to abandon nests leaving eggs and chicks at risk.

Phillip Island is home to about 40 hooded plovers with fewer than 600 thought to live in Victoria. The population has been slowly increasing since active management began in 1998 when numbers sat at around 20 but remains internationally recognised as a threatened species.

Nature Parks community engagement officer Kimberley Dunstan said while the peak breeding period has passed there are still chicks on beaches.

“Many people assume the birds’ breeding season is winding down but we still have chicks on beaches and these final weeks are incredibly fragile,” Ms Dunstan said.

“Chicks are small, well-camouflaged and difficult to see which means they can easily be stepped on or disturbed.

“A dog off lead or someone getting too close can undo weeks of breeding effort in seconds.”

At least nine hooded plover chicks have fledged this season and there are still chicks feeding themselves along the tide wrack on local beaches.

“These vulnerable birds are still fighting to survive and we all have a part to play in helping protect them so the local population continues to grow,” Ms Dunstan said.

The Sharing Our Shores campaign runs from December through to April 30 in partnership with BirdLife Australia, Bass Coast Shire Council and the Conservation Regulator with 75 local businesses supporting the campaign.

Nature Parks officers ran 44 beach patrols as part of Operation Soho over summer while more than 500 people attended pop-up information stalls at Cape Woolamai and Smiths Beach through the Woolamai Beach Surf Lifesaving Club Nippers program with further sessions held at My Community Library in Cowes and Inverloch.

Phillip Island’s fox-free status provides a safer haven for nesting birds but feral cats and off-lead dogs remain a significant threat with specialist wildlife detection dogs patrolling coastline and bushland searching for evidence of predators.

Hooded plovers are protected under the Wildlife Act 1975 and it is illegal to disturb injure or destroy them or damage their habitat.

Visitors are reminded to stay on tracks, keep dogs on leads and cats indoors, take rubbish with them and slow down for wildlife when driving.

For more information visit penguins.org.au.