New shorebird directory released

New shorebird directory released

Volunteer’s surveys result in crucial guide for conservation

Volunteers are the lifeblood of BirdLife Australia. Our citizen scientists regularly participate in bird surveys across the country, looking for threatened species like Orange-bellied Parrots, Regent Honeyeaters, Swift Parrots or Australasian Bitterns; heading out into the countryside to conduct Birds on Farms surveys; conducting standardised Birdata searches in different bird communities; and one subset of these valued volunteers even gets to squelch across the mudflats to count migratory shorebirds.

These many surveys generate a huge amount of data, and, for example, Birdlife Australia’s National Shorebird Monitoring Program now houses continent-wide shorebird count data collected over more than four decades. This mountain of information is collated and analysed by the experts at BirdLife Australia. One of the results of these analyses is the new Directory of Important Migratory Shorebird Habitat.

BirdLife Australia has partnered with DCCEEW to launch the new, revised Directory of Important Migratory Shorebird Habitat, a free, interactive spatial tool which allows you to explore the habitats across Australia that are considered to be of international and national importance. Mapping of these important habitats for migratory shorebirds is critical, as it provides vital information which supports smarter planning and stronger conservation efforts.

Data collected over the past 15 years has been used to identify 108 sites that are internationally important for the 37 migratory shorebirds (including 16 threatened species) which regularly visit Australia during their non-breeding season, as well as an additional 166 sites that meet criteria for national importance. It’s this information which has been used to update the Shorebird Directory.

The Directory of Important Migratory Shorebird Habitat will soon be available online, with easy accessibility for shorebird data from both nationally and internationally important shorebirds sites.

This mammoth project highlights how the valuable data collected by our army of citizen scientists can have a direct impact by guiding conservation decision making for threatened species.