Adopt a Hooded Plover
Your symbolic adoption funds various research, environment and education programs.
Hooded Plovers are a small beach-nesting bird with a black 'hood' and black-tipped red beak. The species are on the edge of extinction with only 3,000 individuals remaining in south-eastern Australia.
Hooded Plovers, or 'Hoodies', live and breed on wide beaches and the shores of lakes and wetlands, nests are built above the high tide line. Hooded Plovers and their eggs and chicks are very vulnerable to human activities within their shoreline habitat, particularly given their breeding season is in summer when beaches are at their busiest. The Hooded Plover's camouflage makes them very hard to see and nests can be trampled. Dogs on beaches, as well as feral cats and rodents, can also attack plovers and their chicks, discarded rubbish and marine debris can also cause entanglements.
On Phillip Island, conservation groups, volunteers and Phillip Island Nature Parks carry out conservation activities to increase chances of Hooded Plover breeding and survival such as prohibiting dogs and horses from beaches, ranger patrols, public education, erecting temporary fences and signage around vulnerable nests to create refuges and population monitoring.
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Thinornis cucullatus
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Aves
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Vulnerable
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>20 years
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100g
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19–23cm
Did you know?
Hooded Plover chicks have one of the lowest survival rates of any species, at 1 in every 100 chicks.
What your money helps fund
A Safe Island Haven
Phillip Island is completely fox-free, which provides a haven safe from introduced predators for Hooded Plovers. However, they still remain vulnerable to human activities such as habitat disturbance and introduced predators like cats and dogs.
Ranger Protectors
Phillip Island Nature Parks works hard to provide a sanctuary for Hooded Plovers, protecting them through predator control programs, habitat restoration and management, education programs and regular beach cleans to remove plastic debris.
Research and Monitoring
Phillip Island Nature Parks conducts ongoing scientific research studies and monitoring activities to better understand the implications of local and global threats to Hooded Plovers and protect them well into the future.
Did you know?
If Hooded Plovers have young chicks and they notice a predator approaching, they will act as if they have a broken leg so as to draw attention to themselves over their chicks.