Hooded plover chicks killed on Aussie coast amid suspected ‘improper e-bike use’

Hopes of breeding a threatened bird species in a southern Australian city were sadly dashed when all three chicks were killed just days after hatching; One of them was found “injured or possibly already dead.” e-bike parts on a beach.

This was the second breeding effort of the season for BirdLife Australia and Green Adelaide, trying to find a pair of Hooded Plovers to mate at Seacliff Beach. Adelaide‘Hoodies’, as she is affectionately called, successfully hatched three chicks on 28 October.

But within five days, two had disappeared and the third was found on e-bike tracks.

“An e-bike was seen moving up and down the dunes and performing a ‘wheeling stance’ all over the beach where the Hooded Plover chick was found lying motionless on the bike rails moments earlier,” a BirdLife Australia spokesperson told Yahoo News. .

A volunteer rushed to the chick desperately to help, when a seagull came and picked it up “right in front of them”, dealing a “devastating” final blow to the team’s breeding efforts.

Failed breeding attempts largely blamed on beach ‘disturbances’

Officials believe “disturbances” such as off-leash dogs or “improper e-bike use” are “a major contributor to the failure of hooded chicks on breeding grounds.”

While parents do their best to protect the chicks from predators and ward off threats, this often leaves the chicks vulnerable to others. birds a move from top to bottom.

The same parents’ first breeding attempt was disrupted after the entire family was seen being “chased by an off-leash dog” in a fenced breeding area by volunteers; This left the chicks alone in the sand and a bird flying downwards.

According to BirdLife Australia, hooded plovers are listed as vulnerable under national law and are “Australia’s most threatened beach-nesting bird”.

Simple message to help Australians, not hinder them

Simple steps can make a big difference to wildlife survival, and BirdLife Australia is desperately asking beachgoers to do little things to help their efforts.

“If you see signs on the beach that indicate you have entered a breeding area, please pass through the area along the water’s edge and do not settle or linger,” the spokesman said. “If you’re walking a dog on the beach, either tether your pet to signs or, better yet, turn around and find another area of ​​beach you can walk to.”

This sentiment was echoed by the federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water (DCCEW), which told Yahoo News that “everyone can be part of protecting Australia’s valuable threatened species.”

“We can keep them safe by making sure we and our pets don’t disturb them,” a spokesperson said.

Do you have a story tip? Email: [email protected].

You can also follow us Facebook, instagram, tiktok, excitement And YouTube.