Adults: Upperparts, pale grey-brown. Underparts, white. has a black hood, and a white nape. Lower neck and side of breast, black. White wing bar visible in flight. Eyering, red. Tail and rump, black, edged with white. Bill, red with black tip. Leg and feet, reddishish.
Juveniles: Pale overall, and brown where adult is black.
Immatures: Lacks hood. Upperparts, scaly, silvery grey, with a white collar. Smudgy, grey lapels. Bill, base pink, tip black. Eyering, pinkish. Legs, pinkish or pale yellow.
Other Scientific Names
Charadrius rubricollis [Collar and Andrew (1988)], Charadrius rubricollis [Collar et al. (1994)], Charadrius rubricollis [Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993)], Charadrius rubricollis [BirdLife International (2000)]
Other Names (World)
Hooded Plover, Hooded Dotterel
Habitat
Sandy, ocean beaches, with the highest densities on beaches with large amounts of beach-washed seaweed, that are backed by extensive open dunes. Occasionally the margins of coastal lagoons and inland salt lakes.
Population
Estimated population is 7,000 (2010) and decreasing.
Status VU
Low breeding success and thus low recruitment due to nesting failure resulting from the crushing of nests and eggs by off-road vehicles, trampling by livestock, disturbance by people and their dogs, flooding by spring tides, predation, and ill-considered beach erosion management is the main threat.
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.
Habits
In pairs or family groups.
Food
Marine insects.
Voice
A short, piping, 'pert pert', and a barking 'kew kew' uttered in flight.
Hooded Dotterel (Thinornis cucullatus) [XC860228]
by Andrew Spencer from Philip Island, Victoria, Australia (call)
Hooded Dotterel (Thinornis cucullatus) [XC860227]
by Peter Boesman from Philip Island, Victoria, Australia (call)
Nest
A depression in sand or among pebbles, shells or seaweed.
Eggs (Guide)
2 or 3; pale buff-brown or light stone, blotched dusky and lavender; oval; about 39 x 27 mm.
Young
Precocial, nidifugous.
Subspecies
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
cucullatus (Vieillot, 1818) - Coasts of southern New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia. Formerly coast of southern Queensland and northern New South Wales.
tregellasi Mathews, 1912 - Coastal and inland south-western western Australia.
Similar Species
Sanderling (Calidris alba)
Smaller. With immatures. Longer, all-black bill. Legs, black. Shoulder-patch, blackish. Lacks a white collar.
Compare Images
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
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BirdLife International Species Factsheet