The Burnett Mary Regional Group for NRM Inc (BMRG) is leading a Community Coastcare project designed to increase the community’s awareness of shorebirds. The project, Feathering the Future of the Burnett Mary, will include hosting a number of dog walkers’ breakfasts, school activities and community events around the region to let us all know how important our shorebirds are.
With all this activity planned, we’re going to need some help and would like to recognise some of the local experts that we have in our region by nominating them as Shorebird Ambassadors.
So what is a shorebird? Shorebirds (or waders as they are often called here in Australia) are members of the Order Charadriiformes; which includes the plovers, avocets, stilts and sandpipers that are most frequently found wading along our seashores and estuaries.
Australia supports a huge number of shorebird species. Whilst some are Australian residents and even unique (endemic) to Australia, like the Banded Stilt, many more are annual migrants to our shores utilising Important Bird Areas like the Great Sandy Strait Ramsar Wetland.
“Sadly, there is increasing evidence that migratory shorebird populations are declining. Shorebirds using the East-Asian Australasian Flyway are under threat from widespread habitat destruction, which is especially prevalent at wetland staging areas or stopping points in their annual migration in East Asia,” said David Brown, CEO of the BMRG.
The migratory shorebirds generally start to arrive in Australia from late August and remain on our shores throughout the summer and leave in March or April, to return to their breeding grounds in the tundra areas of Siberia, to breed in June and July.
They’re incredible travellers – for example the Red-necked Stint. This is the smallest and most abundant species of migratory shorebird that visits Australia. They weigh only 25 grams (or less than the weight of two 50 cent pieces) and have a strong tendency to return to the same site year after year.
2 million shorebirds make an annual return trip of 25,000 kilometres to Australia and back. During a 20 year lifetime, a long distance migrating shorebird would travel over 400,000 km. That’s a lot of Frequent Flier Points!
“Although not many people would know much about these incredible birds – we know that there’s a small group of passionate enthusiasts and we would like to recognise their dedication,” added David Brown.
So if you know a potential Shorebird Ambassador in your community or would like to nominate yourself, the BMRG would love to hear from you. Twenty ambassadors will be selected from our region which stretches from Tannum Sands in the north to Rainbow Beach in the South.
For more information or to nominate please download the form from BMRG’s website www.bmrg.org.au/information.php/2/111/362 or contact Sue Sargent on (07) 4181 2999 ext. 204, sue.sargent@bmrg.org.au . Nominations close on Friday, 18 September.
Photograph: Red-necked Stint in flight. Copyright Chris Barnes.
09 September 2009
