Hoodie season beats the odds

THE endangered hooded plover has beaten the odds this year, with six chicks surviving on the City’s surf beaches stretching from Point Lonsdale to Breamlea.

The amazing success of the “hoodie” breeding season, could not have been achieved without the support of BirdLife Australia volunteers, who did a fantastic job informing the public about the Hoodies, and encouraging beachgoers to leash their dogs and avoid hoodie breeding areas.

Hoodie survival on the region’s beaches has become an incredible challenge due to the increasing number of people who visit the beaches.

To counter this, the City of Greater Geelong take numerous steps to protect Hoodie breeding sites by erecting temporary fencing, constructing educational signage and wooden teepees for chicks to hide in, as well as enforcing dog regulations.

Hoodie breeding pairs lay up to three eggs in the sand from late August and incubate them for four weeks until they hatch. Once born, chicks are unable to fly until they are five weeks old and must feed themselves, foraging for sand hoppers and other invertebrates along the water’s edge. Hoodie chicks can travel up to two kilometres from their nesting site in search of food.

The six hoodie chicks that survived this season are now old enough to fly and therefore more able to avoid predation. This year’s achievement is remarkable, considering how challenging it is for chicks to survive to fledging. There are only about 570 hoodies left on Australia’s south-east coast.

Hooded plovers are an endangered species and are protected under the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 and the Federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

“Hooded plovers are a rarity along the Great Ocean Road and the Bellarine Peninsula, which makes protecting these little birds a very high priority,” Cr Sarah Mansfield said.

“It is fantastic to see that our educational campaign and the tireless work of BirdLife Australia volunteers has been rewarded this year. By providing temporary fencing and signage, constructing wooden teepees and enforcing dog regulations, it was enough to give these endangered birds a better chance of survival.”

“A big thank you to beach users who helped make this season a success by observing signs and giving the hoodies their space.”