Moorland Point: Decline of a traditional roost-site for Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres, Pacific Golden Plover Pluvialis fulva and other shorebirds in northern Tasmania

The Moorland Point area has been an important high-tide roost for certain migratory shorebird species on the central-north coast of Tasmania, where shorebirds are generally scarce. Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres and Pacific Golden Plover Pluvialis fulva roost on a small rocky headland and adjacent piles of seaweed along with up to three Grey-tailed Tattlers Tringa brevipes (all mainly in summer), and Double-banded Plover Charadrius bicinctus roost above the high-tide mark 250 m to the east (mainly February–early August). More than 300 counts of shorebirds have been made at this site from 1985 to 2014. All these species have declined in recent years. Ruddy Turnstone, Pacific Golden Plover and Grey-tailed Tattler may have been affected by factors elsewhere in the East Asian–Australasian Flyway, but local disturbance is also implicated and needs further management in addition to the recent initiative to block vehicles from the beach. The situation highlights some of the problems in conserving shorebird species that favour scattered small sites and may escape the attention given to sites supporting large numbers of more social shorebirds.