Scientific Research - Hooded Plover

Research of the Hooded Plover


Jack Kelly






Due: Sunday 10th May 2009







Synopsis:

The Hooded Plover is a very small coastal bird that lives along the coast, nesting in between the fore dune and the high tide line on surf beaches. They prefer surf beaches because the rough water beings food to the shore, which is where the Hooded Plover feeds. Although the Hooded Plover prefers surf beaches, it doesn’t necessarily mean that have to live there. They can also live on calmer beaches, that is of course, only if the beach provides enough food for the Hooded Plover to feed on. Sadly the Hooded Plover has very minimal numbers left, and has been classified as ‘vulnerable’, which is the third worse classification after ‘endangered’ and ‘extinct’. It also means that the Hooded Plover is at a real risk of becoming endangered or even extinct. This is because they lay their eggs in sand on popular surf beaches, which means humans will mistakenly step on them by accident. As well as other common threats to the Hooded Plover also. Solutions such as allocating a section of beach where the Hooded Plovers eggs are located, and fence it off, not allowing people to crush the eggs of this innocent bird. Also, just for everyone in general to have a proper idea of this minuscule bird, and to understand its situation.

Aim:

The aim of our research was to collect valuable information about the Hooded Plover, which could properly diagnose what the main threats of the bird is, and the ideal conditions for the hooded plover to live in. This is important because the Hooded Plover as a ‘vulnerable’ species and we need to diagnose the major threats and eradicate them. Also, this is important because the conditions that the Hooded Plover lives in are essential, and if it is established exactly how it lives, and then we can set up exact solutions to protect this delicate species.

Method:

In order to find some Hooded Plovers in our research, we went to West Bay, a beach that contained moderate surf, but wasn’t that popular, meaning that the Hooded Plover could bread and not have the human element amongst their predators. We had to look very closely along the beach to spot the Plovers, but it was relatively easy as they were all feeding near the water line and weren’t that hard to spot. When we saw a Hooded Plover we recorded the coordinates of its position on the GPS. We saw a group of six Hooded Plovers all in the same spot so we marked the coordinates as S35°14.266, E136°49.958. As we approached the area where they were grouped, they showed leading behaviour and attempted to lead us away from where they were feeding, this was probably because they had eggs or a nest nearby and didn’t want us to get close to it. They would run, then stop and let us get closer, then run again, but eventually as they got further and further away from where they started they flew around us and went back to their original spot. We used our journals to record the results that we obtained, and to avoid mixing any of it up, we got more than one person to record the data, making sure that it would be correct and not altered.





Results:

The numbers of the Hooded Plovers are rapidly decreasing, and if we don’t act now, they will soon go from vulnerable to endangered, which basically means they are up against it just to survive. If this happens, and the Hooded Plover eventually dies out, it will act as a chain reaction in the environment, with the predators that preyed on the Hooded Plover turning their attention to other species, which effects those species that may also be vulnerable, the Malleefau for example. Also other species that rely on the Hooded Plover will take a downfall and possibly become vulnerable itself. But, luckily there is also a great chance for them surviving, if some solutions are set in place, the Hooded Plover will surely survive. There has been proved over the last few year when the Tamar Wallaby was introduced into Innes National Park, and to do this they hunted all the foxes so that the Wallaby could survive, and since then such species as the Hooded Plover has rapidly increased their numbers. This shows that the when solutions are put in place, numbers of a species can increase, and that is what needs to happen with the Hooded Plover.

Discussion:

The information that we have collected will go into a massive database which scientists can tap into and use for research. The information we have posted will help people looking at this database to look at the threats towards the Hooded Plovers, how it acts, etc.. The major causes of this situation is the fact that humans are not aware that the beach they visit so regularly, it shared by a bird that is lacking in numbers, therefore people smash the eggs of this creature by accident and don’t even take into consideration that they could be killing a species all together. Effects to save these birds must start now, the situation is very serious and the chances are small, but the solutions will help them survive massively.

Conclusion:

As said in the aim, we are trying to diagnose the major predators of the Hooded Plover, as well as finding the ideal environment for the Hooded Plover to live in. I believe keeping the number of foxes down is a great advantage in keeping the Hooded Plovers numbers up, as well as keeping other species numbers up also. Another solution is putting up temporary markers on very popular beaches to protect the new eggs and new born babies of the Hooded Plover. I think that a group of scientists should focus on the Hooded Plover, and put these words into action. By doing this they can follow up their own work and making sure that the number of Hooded Plovers increase to a safe level on which they can survive on their own.

The Hooded Plover is an important species in eco-systems and they should be very carefully repopulated.