Hooded Plover

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This is the official page of BirdLife Australia's Hooded Plover Recovery Project which began in 2006, focusing on Research, Education and On-ground Actions

BirdLife Australia's recovery project for the Hooded Plover began in 2006 with the aim of improving breeding success of the Hooded Plover and protecting important habitat. The project is multi-faceted, coordinates many partner organisations and established Friends of the Hooded Plover groups across Victoria and South Australia to monitor and protect breeding pairs. In collaboration with universities such as Deakin University, we carry out research to inform the direction of the program and fill critical knowledge gaps. We have a major education program with school incursions and community awareness raising events and targeted educational materials. We also ensure that land managers and volunteers who participate in recovery actions and monitoring are trained and equipped with specialist knowledge and skills, to ensure our interventions assist the species and do not add to their woes. We are always looking for more volunteers to assist this species as we have a big task ahead of us to protect and understand them, as well as to bring the community along in caring for this amazing coastal dependent shorebird.

'Hoodies' are an indicator of healthy coasts and a 'flagship' for raising awareness about the needs of other shorebirds and seabirds dependent on Australia's amazing and diverse coastal habitats. They can be brought back from the brink of extinction through simple changes in the way we visit the beach. Every individual can make a big difference!

05/11/2026

🐣 Hoodie season is here! 🐣

The Hooded Plover breeding season is well and truly underway, and our next monitoring training workshop is heading to South Gippsland, Victoria! If you love spending time on your local beaches and are keen to learn more about the birds that call those beaches home – come along to our workshop. We’ll go cover:
🔹 the quirky breeding behaviours of Hooded Plovers
🔹 what to look (and listen) out for
🔹 a beach walk to (hopefully!) spot some Hoodies in action

📅 Friday 20th November
📍 Manna Gum Community House, Foster
✉️ RSVP by 18th Nov: [email protected]

This project is funded by the Australian Government Natural Heritage Trust and delivered by the West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority, a member of the Commonwealth Regional Delivery Partners panel.

BirdLife Australia Threatened Species Commissioner Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water Parks Victoria West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority South Gippsland Shire Council

27/10/2026

🐦🌊 Calling all Eyre Peninsula beach and bird lovers! 🌊🐦

BirdLife Australia invites you to two free workshops to get to learn all about Beach-nesting Birds!

📍 Tumby Bay – Friday 20 November, 10am - 2 pm
📍 Streaky Bay – Monday 23 November, 10:30am - 2:30pm

It's a great opportunity to learn more about the local coastal birdlife in the area and catch up with current volunteers. 🥚🐣

Everyone’s welcome!

RSVP by 16th November - [email protected]

This project is supported by the Eyre Peninsula Landscape Board's Grassroots Grants program, made possible by the regional landscape levy.

District Council of Tumby Bay District Council of Streaky Bay

26/10/2026

Great effort everyone involved! Thanks to our Friends of Mallacoota volunteers and BirdLife Australia staff. Can't wait to learn what AL Green gets up to within the next few years!

09/10/2026

Freshly hatched Hoodie chicks were foraging on a tidal sandbar, busy focussing on finding their food when the parents realised that the tide was coming in! The tide surrounded the sandbar, creating a quickly disappearing island of sand! How are the Hoodies going to get back to the safety of the beach when the chicks can’t fly yet?

Swim of course!

Yes – Hoodie chicks can swim when they need to (mainly in gentle waters)!

The adults herded their chicks to the edge of the sand island, then the adults flew to the beach, leaving the chicks on the little island. The adults called to the chicks, where the chicks then braved stepping into the water and swam, bobbing along in the tiny waves (big waves for tiny chicks).

But did they make it?

The volunteer didn’t get to see if the chicks actually made it to shore during this observation! But a visit a few hours later and all three chicks were sighted back on the main beach – meaning their swim to safety from the inundated sand island was successful!

Big adventures for 1-2 day old chicks!

Photos (C) Jean Turner.

08/10/2026

Who's up for an adventure down to Far East Gippsland, Victoria?

FLOAT is an art studio and residence out on Lake Tyers and they are hosting the Far East Flaneur, an art + nature trail experience that meanders for five days through East Gippsland, from Lake Tyers to Cape Conran.

We're excited to kickstart the event by combining creativity and conservation, with our art and nature workshop. Learn about the local beach-nesting birds from us at BirdLife Australia, and join artists Penny and Lis to experiment with cyanotype, printmaking, or watercolour, and grow our appreciation for wildlife together.

To register for our workshop, visit https://events.humanitix.com/art-nature-workshop

To learn more about FLOAT and the Far East Flaneur, visit https://www.float3909.com/fareast

Our Art and Nature workshop is supported by the Victorian Government through the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) Victorian Landcare Government Grants program.

07/10/2026

Join us for a Walk & Talk about Hooded Plovers!

Come along for a relaxed walk, learn more about these fascinating little shorebirds, and discover how we can help protect them and their beach habitat in Apollo Bay.

📍Barham River mouth, VIC (see flyer for more details)
📅 14 October, 9-10 AM
📝 [email protected] - by 12 Oct

Everyone welcome!

07/10/2026

What a wonderful initiative of artist Caroline Hawkins, to raise awareness of local birds, and to remind people through art, to value what lives beside us and remain connected in a time of ecological uncertainty.

01/10/2026

TRIPLET FLEDGLINGS! Wow what a way to start the season! The ultimate trifecta! 🐥🐥🐥

We are super excited to announce that the first Hooded Plover chicks to fledge for the season were recorded yesterday on Ngarrindjeri Country on the Coorong Ocean beach near the Murray Mouth! The project team were absolutely thrilled to witness the young flyers as being siblings all from the one nest!

Thank you to Ngarrindjeri Aboriginal Corporation and their Ranger team for providing monitoring support and transport in their ATV buggie which enables us to safely monitor the birds in such a remote part of the Park.

These works are being delivered by BirdLife Australia and Ngarrindjeri Aboriginal Corporation as part of the Shorebird and Wetland Habitat Project, which is funded by the Australian Government and implemented by the Government of South Australia.

29/09/2026

To mark the opening of the Fairy Tern and Hooded Plover breeding season, and to welcome back our migratory shorebirds from the Arctic, please join us in celebrating a 'Welcome to the Birds'.

The ceremony will start at 9.30am on Sugars Beach, Kumarangk/Hindmarsh Island, with a Welcome and Smoking ceremony followed by dancing from a Ngarrindjeri dance troop.

BirdLife Australia will have scopes and binoculars set up looking across at the Murray Mouth, with bird identification guides and commentary to assist.

Please share with your networks for what will be an incredible morning! No RSVP required, please come along if you can.

Ngarrindjeri Aboriginal Corporation

22/09/2026

For anyone in South Australia visiting Warooka on the Yorke Peninsula next week, please come and join our shorebird identification workshop!

Hear about the diversity of shorebirds that visit our coasts, their amazing journeys to get here, and the challenges of breeding for the resident beach-nesting species.

Please register via the link : https://www.naturefestival.org.au/event/shorebird-discovery

This project has been funded by the State and Federal Governments Algal Bloom response

Address

54 Wellington Street
Carlton, VIC
3066

Telephone

+61393470757

Website

http://www.birdlife.org.au/projects/beach-nesting-birds

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