Tiny Houses for Hoodies

Beaches along the Bass Coast are among the last strongholds for Victoria’s threatened Hooded Plover population.

Hoodies live and breed on our wild ocean beaches, laying their eggs on exposed sand just above the high-tide mark. Sadly, the odds are stacked against them – over-crowded beaches, human disturbance, predation and climate change are all taking their toll on our Hoodies, and despite volunteers’ best efforts, their rates of breeding success are alarmingly low.

According to Bird Life Australia, Bass Coast had the worst breeding season on record in 2020?2021, when only five chicks fledged successfully out of the 34 breeding pairs monitored.

But a ground-breaking study led by BirdLife Australia’s own Coastal Birds Program Leader, Grainne Maguire, found that a simple A-frame wooden shelter can increase Hoodie’s fledging rate by up to 71 per cent. These shelters provide vital protection from predators and harsh temperatures, and are a safe refuge for their vulnerable chicks.

In preparation for the August?March breeding season, volunteers from the Wonthaggi Men's Shed built over 50 wooden shelters – which will be placed on the open sand within Hoodie breeding sites on the Bass Coast. Hopefully this will help a successful breeding season.

This “Strengthening current and future volunteer participation in Hooded Plover conservation” project is supported by the Victorian Government through the Volunteering Innovation Fund.