National Shorebird Monitoring Program

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National Shorebird Monitoring Program
Double-banded Plover, Chris Tzaros
Red-necked Stint, Glenn Ehmke
Eastern Curlew, Danny Rogers
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Why count shorebirds? 2 reasons!
Pied Oystercatcher by Glenn Ehmke
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FUN
Black-winged Stilt Chris Tzaros
Ash Herrod
Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, Red-necked Stints,
Curlew Sandpipers, Glenn Ehmke
Rob Clemens
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Curlew Sandpiper
Dean Ingwersen
Shorebird feeding and roosting areas, Shallow
Inlet, Vic
Curlew Sandpiper
Informative!
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History of the Shorebird Population Monitoring
Program

• Commenced 1981
• 15,000 visits to over 5,800 locations
• Identified shorebird areas of international
  importance
• Mapped shorebird distribution and abundance
• Some analysis of population trends

Funded 1981 - 1985
By 2004 with no funding
Danny Rogers
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Limitations of the PMP

• Lack of site continuity
• Inconsistent methods, and area coverage
• Sampling not geographically representative
• Data not available to planners and site managers.
  
• Less areas being visited over time, fewer
  counters
• Limited data management

Danny Rogers
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Shorebirds 2020

• Aim to improve the status of shorebirds in
  Australia by 2020 - recognising it was going to
  take 10 years
• Better vision (ie 20/20)
• greater clarity of the importance of shorebirds
  as environmental indicators
• letting us 'see' the coast through the shorebirds

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Shorebirds 2020

• Address some limitations of shorebird monitoring
• National Population trends
• Site based population trends
• Find what is driving changes in populations
• Ensure results are shared
• Increase the number of areas counted, and the
  number of trained counters

Rob Clemens
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Key Project Elements

• Fundraising
• Development of methods and a toolkit
• Site identification mapping
• Volunteer recruitment and training
• Database modification and web-based data entry
• Coordinate national counts
• Analysis of data

Lainie Berry
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What we need

• More thorough and more accurate counts in order
  to detect trends and inform planners
• Need to recruit, train and co-ordinate more
  counters
• Need to support local counting efforts by
  sourcing funding and resources

Rob Clemens
Pied Oystercatchers by Danny Rogers
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The challenge

• Survey minimum 30 most important sites for each
  species
• Need at least 155 priority sites surveyed each
  year
• Last year over 70 sites surveyed
• This year around 150 sites

Red-necked Stints by Glenn Ehmke
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www.shorebirds.org.au

• How to count and ID resources
• Background information on the project
• Count forms instructions
• Customised site maps
• Reports and updates
• Other shorebird related resources

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Selecting a site

• 150 priority shorebird areas
• Regional co-ordinators or Shorebirds 2020 team at
  BA National Office will advise which sites need
  to be counted and when
• Can choose sites not on list
• Random sites

Corner Inlet Ken Gosbell
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Random area surveys
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When to count

• Counts are conducted during summer (February) and
  winter (June/July)
• Repeat counts within a season
• Consider monthly counts
• Count over 4 hours either side of high tide
  (usually)
• Local knowledge informs on best time/tide
• Try to make sure sun is behind you
• Avoid adverse weather
• For big sites, use two to three people

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Shorebird areas and count areas
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Count areas are named
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Count areas are numbered
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The count form!
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(No Transcript)
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Survey details
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Disturbance
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Threats
1
3
2
0
1
1
3
1
0
1
1
3
2
0
2
3
9
5
0
4
Total
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Threat scores
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Habitat change
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The count!
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Comments

• Were the total numbers different to usual?
• Were there any unexpected species?
• Any dead birds?
• Additional information on habitat change,
  disturbance and threats
• Attach extra comments sheets if necessary
• If this is a new site, provide detailed map and
  GPS co-ordinates

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Count form submission

• Mail, fax, email form to BA National office
• Online data entry

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Report flags/bands to AWGS www.awsg.org.au/report

• Record species, date, plumage, location (GPS),
  complete flag combination (if seen)
• Record top left/bottom left/top right/bottom
  right
• Ignore metal band
• Take a photo if possible

Danny Rogers
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• On small birds one flag is placed on the tibia
  and one on the tarsus.
• On large birds, the flags are usually both placed
  on the tibia

Adrian Boyle
Adrian Boyle
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NW WA
QLD
NI NZ
NSW
SI NZ
SW Australia
SA
VIC
TAS
www.shorebirdnetwork.org
Ignore locally flagged birds!
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Alaska USA
Chongmin-Dao China
N Yellow Sea
Sumatra
Taiwan
Japan
Hong Kong
Oman
Singapore
Mongolia
Myanmar
Philippines
Thailand
Indonesia
Siberia
Korea
Vietnam
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Adrian Boyle
New numbered flags identify exact date and place
of banding
Adrian Boyle
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Coloured bands
Adrian Boyle
Combination identifies date and place of banding
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Adrian Boyle
Adrian Boyle
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Adrian Boyle
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www.awsg.org.au/report
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• AWSG Leg Flag Sightings
• c/o Clive Minton,
• 165 Dalgetty Rd.,
• Beaumaris, VIC 3193
• Rob Clemens Red Knot
• Calidris canutus 21/02/2009
• Dear Rob Clemens,
• Thank you for recording the details of the
  flagged waders that were recently sighted. We
  appreciate your action in reporting this
  information, which will contribute to our
  understanding of the migration of birds in the
  East Asian-Australasian Flyway.
• Please check the information given below and
  advise me if any details appear incorrect.
• A total of 2 Red Knots were sighted in a flock of
  1400 birds by Rob Clemens at Thompson Beach, SA,
  Australia 34deg 30min
• 4sec S, 138deg 17min 52sec E on 21/02/2009 with
  flag(s) as follows
• LEFT leg nothing/unknown on tibia (upper
  leg) above nothing/unknown on tarsus
• RIGHT leg yellow flag on tibia (upper leg)
  above nothing/unknown on tarsus
• These birds were flagged in North-west Australia,
  approximate co-ordinates 19deg 0min S, 122deg
  0min E, which uses the flag
• combination Yellow, sometime since August 1992.
• The resighting was a distance of approximately
  2358 km, with a bearing of 140 degrees, from the
  marking location.
• Plumage described as Partial Breeding.

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Where to go from here?

• Any shorebird count can be valuable anywhere,
  anytime
• Summer counting season Jan/Feb
• Winter counts in June/July
• Contact regional co-ordinator, Shorebirds 2020
  team or see website for count schedules,
  training and mentoring opportunities, ID and
  count resources

Thompson Beach by Lainie Berry
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Happy counting!
This project is supported by Birds Australia and
The Australasian Wader Studies Group, through
funding from the Australian Governments Caring
for our Country and WWF-Australia
Red-necked Stints by Glenn Ehmke