How To Use My Shorebird Watcher
Become an expert shorebird watcher!
Use this App to discover Shorebirds along the Australian coastline.
The Shorebird App is designed for 7 to 14 year olds, but older young people and adults, parents and teachers will also find it a good starting tool for watching shorebirds. It is specially designed for studying birds along the Queensland Coastline.
Take this app with you when you go to the seashore.
Read these notes and then follow the prompts.
Shorebirds are birds that depend upon the shore for food, and to rest. For some birds the shore is also the place where they nest and raise their chicks.
The Shoreline is between the sea and the land. It is the beaches, the rocks, the mangroves and river mouths along our coast. It is also the land close to the sea like sand dunes, mudflats, saltpans and wetlands, scrub and grassy fields close by.
Three groups of birds live in this habitat:
• Shorebirds (also called waders) that feed along the tide line and on the mudflats and rest nearby when the tide is high
• Seabirds that feed out at sea and rest along the shore
• Waterbirds that sometimes visit the shore to feed and rest
Use this App to do three things:
• Do a habitat scan of the place you visit to investigate if it is in good condition forShorebirds.
• Identify and list the birds you see
• Record theBird Behaviour by observing what the birds are doing
You can make your ownField Trip Report, then email it and print it.
Photos of manyof the birds that use the shoreline are in this App. To identify other birds you will need to use an Australian Field Guide.
You can use this App on school field trips, and collect information here for your school projects.
At home, you can down load this App onto a tablet and take it with you when you go out with family and friends to the seashore. Become an expert Shorebird watcher and help protect their habitat.
Here are some links about shorebirds to get you started and to help you with projects.
Sharing Shorelines - YouTube
Presented by Pip Russel, Sharing Shorelines explores the importance of Brisbanes coastal areas as a habitat for shorebirds.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9QsbuXKCzw
Queensland Wader Study Group
The Group studies shorebirds along the Queensland coast. This website has many resources including educational materials, information about courses and where to go to see shorebirds
www.waders.org.au
Australasian Wader Study Group
A special interest group of Birdlife Australia dedicated to studying shorebirds throughout the East-Asian Australasian Flyway.
www.awsg.org.au
Teachers can get information about how to use this App on field trips and link to curriculum tasks (suitable for years 3 to 9) here:www.waders.org.auand click on ‘Studying Waders.’