Grey Plover Satellite Tracking Project

In seeking to ensure that the best conservation outcomes for migratory shorebirds can be put in place it is necessary to identify and learn about their migratory routes, including breeding and staging locations.

In the case of the Grey Plover, much is still conjecture. We currently believe that the Grey Plover migrates around 12,000 kilometres northward each year to where it breeds in the northern summers and then returns to spend the southern summers here in Australia. We also know that there are around 12,000 Grey Plovers sharing Australian coastlines each year and that these numbers are in decline. Of interest is that nearly all of them are female.

In order to learn more, we aim to use satellite tracking to accurately map their journeys. You can learn more about this project and track its progress visiting the Marvel of Migration page on the BirdLife website.