Shorebirds are also called waders. On their long legs, they commonly wade around wetlands, mudflats, and sand banks where they feed on invertebrates. They do not have webbed feet like seabirds or seagulls and cannot swim. They belong to the order of Charadriiformes and include snipes, sandpipers, plovers, curlews, oystercatchers, and stilts.

Many of the shorebirds are threatened, and two species we regularly see on the Sunshine Coast are critically endangered (Far Eastern Curlew, Curlew Sandpiper).

Migratory shorebirds move between their breeding grounds in the Arctic and their non-breeding grounds in Australia each year. They fly more than 10,000 km one way along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway via stopover sites in Asia. They breed in the northern Hemisphere during the short Arctic summer and spend the rest of the year in Australia or New Zealand. They start to arrive on the Sunshine Coast in August and start their return journey to the Arctic in March and April.

Resident shorebirds do not migrate; they live and breed in Australia. Some species move inland to wetlands for breeding. Four species breed on the coast in dunes or rocky foreshores, above the high tide mark. In spring, they lay their well-camouflaged eggs in a small scrape in the sand or on the rocks.

During our annual surveys, we generally observe between 400 and 600 shorebirds on the Sunshine Coast. Approximately 80% of those are migratory shorebirds that only stay here over summer. Shorebirds are very faithful to their habitat, which means they come back to the same place each summer.

Most shorebirds live in our estuaries in the Pumicestone Passage in Caloundra and in the lower Maroochy River. They depend on these coastal wetlands for feeding and resting. Resident shorebirds also need these areas to breed and raise their chicks. Some shorebird species are specialised for rocky foreshores and live on our headlands and Mudjimba Island.

Shorebird populations globally have declined significantly due to habitat loss along their migration route. The long migration and complex ecology make migratory shorebirds vulnerable to multiple threats along their migration. They depend on an intact network of quality sites like links in a chain along their migratory path. Shorebirds act as indicator species of changes to the coastal environment, which is essential to all of us.

In Australia, 14 of the 37 regularly occurring migratory shorebird species are listed as threatened and at risk of extinction under the Commonwealth’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. Some shorebird species have declined more than 50% over 10 years or 3 generations.

Some species decline at rates of 8-20% per year, implying that already reduced populations may be halved within a few years.

Local governments have an obligation to protect shorebirds and their habitat within their respective government areas. The development of the Shorebird Conservation Plan is an action under the Sunshine Coast Operational Plan 2024-25.

The main threat to shorebirds on the Sunshine Coast is human-induced disturbance. Recreational activities such as boating and jet skiing, kayaking, kite surfing, fishing, bait collection, or walking near shorebird habitat have the potential to disturb shorebirds when they are too close to shorebird habitat. Research has shown that shorebirds have a very limited ability to get used to human disturbance.

Domestic animals such as dogs are another threat to shorebirds. Research shows that the presence of dogs on the foreshore/intertidal area has a much greater negative effect on the number and species of shorebirds in that area than the presence of people alone. Dogs off-leash have a greater impact than dogs on leash.

When migratory shorebirds arrive on our shores after their long migration, they are exhausted and hungry. They lose about half their body weight during their migration. They are unable to land and feed on water and fly many thousands of kilometres without a break to feed or rest. Once they arrive on our shores, they need time to rest and feed without being disturbed. They also need to prepare for their return migration by putting on extra body weight.

Shorebirds are wary and any time spent running away and looking for threats keeps them from feeding. If they are forced to fly off and find another place to feed or rest, they spend valuable energy they need to recover from their migration, or to prepare for the return journey. This could mean they will not be able to migrate and breed.

When resident shorebirds breeding on our beaches or rocky foreshores are disturbed, it puts their vulnerable eggs and chicks at risk of predation, trampling, or overheating.

Shorebirds depend on very specific coastal ecosystems. They feed on intertidal sandbanks and mudflats. This means they are restricted to the estuaries in the Pumicestone Passage and the lower Maroochy River on the Sunshine Coast. Open beaches which are less busy do not provide the requirements the shorebirds need to feed and rest.

Some shorebird species are specialised to live on rocky foreshores and are restricted to those areas. Shorebirds are also very faithful to their habitat, which means they do not move between habitat areas.

Shorebirds are shy birds that can be hard to see. Migratory shorebirds are in their non-breeding plumage, which is generally a mottled brown or grey, when in Australia. This helps them blend in with their environment. They also live on sandbanks which are generally further away from shore, which makes it hard to spot them with the naked eye. The best way to see shorebirds is using binoculars or a spotting scope.

You can help protect our shorebirds by:

• observing from a distance using binoculars
• not running at flocks of shorebirds
• choosing a location away from the birds for your activities
• keeping your dogs under control
• taking your rubbish home.

The development of a Shorebird Conservation Plan is an action under the Sunshine Coast Operational Plan 2024-25. The shorebird program has grown and developed significantly in the past four years, achieving important milestones in community engagement and education, monitoring, and research. To ensure the program keeps achieving outcomes consistent with council policy, conservation advice, and community expectations, we are reviewing the current plan and developing a new Shorebird Conservation Plan.

Council will partner with Queensland Parks and Wildlife Services from the Department of Environment, Science and Innovation (DESI), university researchers, and experts from the Queensland Wader Study Group (QWSG) to deliver the Shorebird Conservation Plan. Council will also partner with our community through Citizen Science programs.

After completion of this consultation, all feedback will be analysed and considered before finalising the draft plan. The draft will then be peer reviewed and presented to council. There will be further consultation on any actions requiring local law changes.

The Shorebird Conservation Plan will inform environmental considerations of the Dog Exercise Area Regional Plan and Network Blueprint. Any local law changes required for the Shorebird Conservation Plan that impact on domestic animals will be included in the consultation for the local law changes for the Dog Exercise Area Regional Plan and Network Blueprint.

Outcomes of the Shorebird Conservation Plan will be made available on Council's website.