Managing the Hooded Plover - Parks Victoria

Parks Victoria Technical Series No. 4
Managing the Hooded Plover
attributed to gulls (Weston 2000a). Nevertheless, the combination of disturbance and gulls
may account for a small number of nest losses.
Ravens have been demonstrated to be important predators of nests (Weston 2000a, Berry in
prep.). They have also hunted adult Hooded Plovers, and have killed and eaten juveniles
(Weston 2000a, Weston & Morrow 2000, C. Appleby pers. comm.).
There is no evidence that Ibis have taken eggs or chicks. In a comprehensive review of the
diet of Australian and Straw-necked Ibis, neither species was recorded eating young birds or
eggs, but they do sometimes eat small mammals (Marchant & Higgins 1990). This suggests
that it is a possibility that Ibis may occasionally prey upon Hooded Plover chicks.
POLLUTION
Source
Pollution in the form of spills or litter has both onshore and offshore, commercial and private
origins.
Potential impacts
Two types of pollution which may be detrimental to Hooded Plovers are:
• Oil spills, which have been recognised as a potential threat to Hooded Plovers (Schulz &
Bamford 1987, Schulz 1992) and have occurred in Victoria (e.g., NRE 1996a).
• Fishing line on beaches, which has the potential to snare Hooded Plover adults and
chicks (B. Baird in litt., MAW pers. obs.).
Available data
Oil spills, though infrequent and unlikely, have the potential to affect large sections of
coastline. Oil-affected Hooded Plovers have been seen during clean-up operations in
Tasmania (Holdsworth & Bryant 1995). The effects of oil on marine birds can be devastating.
In previous oil spills, the care and rehabilitation of Hooded Plovers (a threatened species)
has been neglected at the expense of caring for higher numbers of common species (such
as Little Penguin Eudyptula minor). In Victoria, the Hooded Plover and the Little Tern Sterna
albifrons are the most significant beach bird in terms of significant populations of threatened
species.
The trap used to catch Hooded Plovers in Victoria (Weston 2000a) used running nooses of
fishing line, indicating the potential for ensnarement in discarded line.
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