Hooded Plover Charadrius cucullatus Scientific name definitions

19–23 cm; 79–110 g; wingspan 36–44 cm. Short-legged plover with neckless appearance; black head and broad white neck collar; upperparts gray bordered black on neck, extending into small black patch at side of breast; deep red eyering  ; bill orange-red at base, with black tip ; dull orange-pink legs. Sexes alike. No seasonal variation. Juvenile as adult, but hindneck, crown and breast patches pale gray-brown mottled whitish buff; chin and throat whitish; upperparts  pale brown-gray with pale fringes; bill blackish with pinkish base and eyering paler.

Specific name previously listed as rubricollis, but this name may be indeterminable; it has been suggested as perhaps a composite, based on two illustrations, one of present species and another of Phalaropus lobatus; in an attempt to clarify its identity, a neotype was designated (1 McAllan, I.A.W. and Christidis, L. (1998). Neotype of the Hooded Plover Charadrius rubricollis Gmelin, 1789. Bull. Brit. Orn. Club 118(1): 59–61. Close ), but circumstances of present case do not qualify for such procedure; to resolve the situation, the Phalaropus illustration was designated as the lectotype of rubricollis, thus formally removing this name from synonymy of present species, and leaving cucullatus as the oldest available name for this taxon (2 Olson, S.L. (1998). Lectotypification of Charadrius rubricollis Gmelin, 1789. Bull. Brit. Orn. Club 118(4): 256–259. Close ). Name tregellasi (“Ellen’s brook, South-West Australia”) not accepted and rarely mentioned in modern ornithological literature. Monotypic.

Southern Australia and Tasmania.

Mainly found on broad, sandy ocean beaches , occasionally near rocky or sand-covered reefs, estuaries, inlets and saline and freshwater lakes and lagoons close to coast. Breeds in sparsely vegetated sand dunes backing onto beach, between high-water mark and base of dunes, often with much seaweed spread around, or, especially in Western Australia, round margins of lakes.

Essentially sedentary, showing erratic movements; inland breeders move to coastal lakes after breeding season; in southeastern Australia, some flocking occurs during non-breeding season, and at some breeding sites birds absent or sparse during April–August, suggesting at least local movements; also moves inland, e.g. to salt-lakes immediately behind beach, and may fly to offshore islands, ca. 20–70 km away.

Amphipods, isopods, polychaetes, bivalves, gastropods, crabs, insects (e.g. dragonflies, beetles and flies) and seeds. Feeds  busily along water’s edge on prey left behind by receding waves during low to mid-tide. At high tide forages among seaweed and debris of beachcast; on rocks , forages in wave-wash or spray zone; at lagoons and lakes, forages on dry or moist substrates or in shallow water. Diurnal and nocturnal; feeding mostly tactile at night, involving continuous pecking. During non-breeding season forages in loose, small flocks of 10–40 birds, up to large flocks, occasionally of several hundred.

Rather silent. Flight call a low-pitched guttural kew-kew. Also gravelly chatters. When agitated, utters a quiet high-pitched piping kseep.

Eggs found August–March, or later due to replacement and second clutches. Monogamous, often over several years. Solitary and territorial, with nests often kilometers apart, but also as little as 18 m apart; density 0.2–2 pairs/km; high degree of site fidelity; possible breeding association with Pied Oystercatcher (Haematopus longirostris). Nests in sand, in the open; nest a scrape, unlined or lined with pebbles, seaweed, sticks and shell or stone fragments, and sometimes encircled with such material. Clutch 2–3 eggs, occasionally one (3 Weston, M.A. and Elgar, M.A. (2005). Parental care in Hooded Plovers (Thinornis rubricollis). Emu. 105(4): 283–292 Close ) or four, probably laid at 1–4-day intervals; replacement clutch may be laid; incubation 27–31 days, by both parents, starting once clutch complete; chick has sandy-brown upperparts mottled black, white nape with black band extending to just below eye and white underparts; both parents tend chicks until fledging; fledging 32–36 days. May breed at one year old. Hatching success 17–31%; 0.1 young fledged per pair; causes of nest failure are flooding, human disturbance, destruction by vehicles, trampling by livestock and predation; a study in Mornington Peninsula National Park, Victoria, found that 60% of nests failed at the egg stage and that > 70% of chicks that hatched were lost, with human trampling the main case of failure at nest stage (4 Dowling, B. and Weston, M.A. (1999). Managing a breedin g population of the Hooded Plover Thinornis rubricollis in a high-use recreational environment. Bird Conservation International. 9(3): 255–270. Close ).

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VULNERABLE. Considered to be probably Endangered by some Australian authorities (5 Szabo, J.K., Butchart, S.H.M., Possingham, H.P. and Garnett, S.T. (2012). Adapting global biodiversity indicators to the national scale: a Red List Index for Australian birds. Biological Conservation. 148(1): 61–68. Close ), although the declining eastern Australian population has only recently been officially recognized by the government to be Vulnerable (6 Anon. (2015). Hooded Plover has made the list! Austr. Birdlife 4(2): 66. Close ). Population probably numbers ca. 7000 mature individuals (or 10,000–11,000 in total), of which at least 1,730 on Tasmania . Calculated population declines include 12% across Victoria in 2000–2008, and 33% in 1980–2008; 13% between comprehensive surveys across Victoria in 1988 and 1992; 58% on Phillip I in 1981–1997; ca. 20% across Tasmania in 1982–2006; 25% on Kangaroo I in 1985–2004; and 55% across New South Wales in 1988–2008; range contraction has been noted in Queensland and New South Wales. Smaller western population (ca. 2500 birds) probably secure, but range contracting on coast and around salt-lakes in southwestern Australia, although L Gore, in this region, appears to be the single-most important site for the species, with up to 640 individuals counted there in Feb 1995 (7 Weston, M.A. and Elgar, M.A. (2000). The effect of a major rainfall event on Hooded Plovers on a salt-lake in Western Australia. Emu. 100(1): 64–69. Close ). In eastern Australia, human disturbance through recreational activities on beaches (the breeding season coincides with the main holiday season) has probably contributed to decline of species; incubating birds readily leave eggs due to disturbance, and scavengers are attracted to human activities. Many nests may be crushed by four-wheel-drive vehicles, e.g. 81% of nests at the Coorong in 1985–1986; in some areas, predation by foxes and Silver Gull (Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae) and trampling of nests by livestock are major causes of nest failure (4 Dowling, B. and Weston, M.A. (1999). Managing a breedin g population of the Hooded Plover Thinornis rubricollis in a high-use recreational environment. Bird Conservation International. 9(3): 255–270. Close ); young can be killed by vehicles when hiding in wheel ruts, while human disturbance can cause stress on chicks and compromise adult defense of their young, although one recent study recorded no evidence of predation as a result of such impacts (8 Weston, M.A. and Elgar, M.A. (2005). Disturbance to brood-rearing Hooded Plover Thinornis rubricollis: responses and consequences. Bird Conservation International. 15(2): 193–209. Close ). The provision of artificial chick shelters on beaches have been shown to greatly improve fledging success, by up to ca. 70% (9 Maguire, G.S., Duivenvoorden, A.K., Weston, M.A. and Adams, R. (2011). Provision of artificial shelter in beaches is associated with improved shorebird fledging success. Bird Conservation International. 21: 172–185. Close ). Temporarily closing beaches used by plovers to human access during the incubation period would also prove beneficial (10 Weston, M.A., Ehmke, G.C. and Maguire, G.S. (2011). Nest return times in response to static versus mobile human disturbance. Journal of Wildlife Management. 75(1): 252–255. Close ). Oil spills represent an additional threat, while the species’ coastal habitats are threatened with degradation by marram grass (Ammophila arenaria) and other introduced coastal weeds. Although generally considered to be relatively secure on islands and in areas with active nest protection schemes, the information cited above from Phillip I suggests that breeding success was too low to sustain the local population. Population in Western Australia considered in less danger because, in addition to beaches, it breeds on inland and coastal lakes where human disturbance is rare, especially in remote areas. Here, predation by foxes is probably the main threat, but it is unknown whether if this constrains the population, while pollution may also affect this population.