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Sharing the shore with our beach-nesting birds

Friday, 6 January 2023

  • Estimated reading time 2min

Keep beach-nesting birds safe this summer

If you’re heading to the beach this summer, you might be sharing the shore with our beach-nesting birds and their chicks.

A hooded plover chick on the beach.
A hooded plover chick on the beach. Photographed by: Geoff Gates

Over spring and summer, some shorebirds – like Hooded Plovers, Oystercatchers and Beach Stone-curlews – lay their eggs directly on the exposed sand of our ocean beaches. Once they hatch, these chicks roam the beach while learning to feed and fly. While their parents are always close by, they can be hard to spot since their plumage is well-camouflaged to their coastal habitat.

Without realising, we can have a major impact on the breeding success of beach-nesting birds.

If you’re lucky enough to find nesting shorebirds or chicks on the beach this summer, please keep a safe distance and keep any dogs on a leash to give our beach-nesting birds the best chance of survival.

Follow these 6 simple steps to become a bird-friendly beachgoer this summer.

And if you’d like to volunteer with our Beach-nesting Birds team, please visit our Beach-nesting Birds volunteer hub.