A major new program is well underway at Birds Australia. The program is designed to reinvigorate and coordinate national shorebird monitoring in Australia. Shorebirds 2020 is a collaborative enterprise between Birds Australia, The Australasian Wader Studies Group (AWSG), WWF-Australia and the Australian Government’s Natural Heritage Trust.

Project Objectives

The primary objectives of the program are to collect data on the numbers of shorebirds in a manner that can be utilised to aid their conservation and management, specifically long- and short-term population trends, and explore what may be causing those changes.  Further, this project will seek to understand the relationship between habitat quality and threats on the distribution and abundance of shorebirds. A Project Manager, Technical Manager  and Project Officer  have been appointed to oversee the project. We aim to achieve this by building upon existing count methods, providing counter training and recruitment, increasing the coverage, frequency and geographic representation of sampling, and inform decision-makers through analysis and reporting.

Shorebird Monitoring Volunteers Needed

We want to hear from anyone with an interest in shorebirds and shorebird conservation, or who would like to learn more about these amazing birds. In particular we are looking for volunteers to assist with biannual national population monitoring counts at sites throughout Australia. People with limited shorebird experience need not feel daunted as we will be supporting counters with a shorebird identification toolkit, workshops and regional mentors.