Hooded Plovers are masters of camouflage, well adapted to high energy beaches, and lay eggs in nests which are simple scrapes in sand usually above the high tide mark or among dunes. They breed from September to March—the most popular holiday beach time for us humans. Nesting failure rates are 90-95% and an egg has just a 2.5% chance of becoming an adult bird. The threats to successful breeding are numerous, including climate change, predators and disturbance from human activities. Only 700 adult birds remain in Victoria and there are too few young ‘Hoodies’ being added to the population to sustain it.

If nesting is active, the breeding areas will be easily identified by temporary roped enclosures around the nest area with advisory signage indicating there are ‘Hoodies’ nesting and/or tiny chicks have hatched. Please follow the guidelines clearly displayed on these signs.