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Curlew Sandpiper (Calidris ferruginea)

The Curlew Sandpiper is a small, long-distance migratory shorebird that breeds in Arctic Siberia and spends the non-breeding season in Australia, mainly around coastal wetlands and sheltered estuaries. It is listed as Critically Endangered under the EPBC Act, so clearing, hydrology changes, disturbance or indirect effects near suitable wetlands may require assessment even where birds are seasonal visitors.

Conservation status

Commonwealth, EPBC Act 1999: Critically endangered.

Queensland, Nature Conservation Act 1992: Critically endangered.

New South Wales, Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016: Critically endangered.

Victoria, Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988: Critically endangered.

South Australia, National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972: Endangered.

Western Australia, Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016: Critically endangered.

Tasmania, Threatened Species Protection Act 1995: Endangered.

Northern Territory, Territory Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1976: Critically endangered.

Australian Capital Territory, Nature Conservation Act 2014: Critically endangered.

Breeding season

The calendar below describes a typical Australian cycle. Timing varies among regions and individuals. Northern Australia can hold non-breeding birds throughout the season, while south-eastern and southern sites generally receive birds from late August or September to March or April.

The presence calendar is a planning guide, not a substitute for site-specific surveys. Tide, rainfall and wetland condition can change local use between visits.

  • Breeding in Arctic Siberia: Breeding occurs in June and July in Arctic Siberia, not at Australian project sites.
  • Young in nest and early dependency: Chicks leave the nest soon after hatching and fledge about two weeks later. Juveniles generally depart the breeding grounds in August and arrive in Australia later than adults.
  • Southward migration and arrival in Australia: Adults depart Siberia in July, juveniles in August, and adults can reach northern Australia from late August and early September. Most birds reach south-eastern Australia in September.
  • Non-breeding presence in Australia: Birds remain in northern Australia through the non-breeding season, while other birds use coastal and inland Australian wetlands from late August or September until March or April.
  • Northward migration: Northward migration begins in March. Birds leave Australian coastal sites between mid-January and mid-April, with many passing through Asian coastal staging areas in March and April.
  • Highest clearing risk: Risk is highest when birds are present at feeding and roosting wetlands, especially September to March in many southern sites. Disturbance during northward migration, including January to April, can reduce feeding time and energy reserves. Northern Australian sites may retain birds outside this general window.

Identification

Curlew Sandpipers are medium-sized waders with a long, fine-tipped, down-curved bill, longish dark legs and a white rump. Birds seen in Australia are usually in non-breeding or juvenile plumage.

Adults in non-breeding plumage are grey-brown above and white below, with fine grey-brown streaking on the face, neck and breast. A white supercilium, white rump and broad white wingbar are useful features, especially in flight.

The bill is black, long and distinctly decurved. The legs and feet are usually black-grey, sometimes with a green-brown tinge.

Adult breeding plumage: Chestnut-red head, neck and underbody, with dark streaking and barred flanks.

Juvenile plumage: Grey-brown upperparts with black and buff streaking on the crown, a pale buff wash on the breast and white underparts.

Identification: Separating similar waders

The long, down-curved black bill is the main field feature. Other similarly sized sandpipers may have a straighter or shorter bill, different leg colour or length, or lack the combination of a white rump and white wingbar.

Females are slightly larger than males and generally have a longer bill. In breeding plumage, females are usually paler chestnut below, with more white feathering and darker barring.

Identification: Field signs

Curlew Sandpipers are usually detected visually, often in mixed flocks of shorebirds. They feed by pecking at the mud surface or making shallow probes, and may give a useful behavioural clue by following the receding tide along the edge of shallow water.

No species-specific tracks, scats, calls or other indirect field signs are described in the supplied sources. Breeding nests are shallow ground scrapes lined with leaves, moss and lichens, but breeding occurs in Arctic Siberia rather than on Australian project sites.

  • Treat a flock of small grey-brown waders on exposed mud or shallow water as requiring closer examination where the bill is long and down-curved.
  • Check birds in flight for the white rump and broad white wingbar.

Distribution: Australian range

The species has a very large international range, but the Australian population belongs to the East Asian, Australasian Flyway. In Australia it is widespread, with the highest concentrations generally associated with coastal and subcoastal wetlands.

Curlew Sandpipers occur around much of the Australian coastline, including coastal and near-coastal wetlands in the Northern Territory, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania. They also occur inland when suitable wetlands form.

In the Northern Territory, records are concentrated around coastal areas, with Fog Bay, Chambers Bay and Port McArthur identified as important areas. Inland records include the Victoria River District, Barkly Tableland and Alice Springs region.

In Queensland, records are scattered in the Gulf of Carpentaria and are widespread along the coast south of Cairns, with sparse inland records around Mount Isa. In New South Wales, the species occurs along the entire coast, particularly in the Hunter Estuary, and sometimes in freshwater wetlands of the Murray-Darling Basin.

In Victoria, it occurs around Port Phillip Bay, Westernport Bay, Corner Inlet, Anderson's Inlet and Shallow Inlet, as well as other near-coastal and suitable inland wetlands. In Western Australia, important locations include Eighty Mile Beach, Roebuck Bay, Port Hedland Saltworks, Lake MacLeod and the Eyre Bird Observatory. In South Australia, it is widespread east of Streaky Bay, including the Coorong, ICI and Price Saltfields.

  • Relevant Australian habitat occurs in coastal plains, estuaries, bays, inlets, lagoons, saltmarshes, saltworks and suitable inland wetlands.
  • Records in inland areas may represent migrants or birds responding to temporary wetland conditions.

Distribution: International range and flyway

The species breeds across Arctic Siberia, from Chosa Bay to the northern Chukotskiy Peninsula. Birds migrating to Australia travel through the East Asian, Australasian Flyway, using staging areas along the Asian coast, including the Yellow Sea region.

Australian birds may use different routes between northern and south-eastern Australia. Adults can reach northern Australia from late August and early September, while juveniles generally arrive later.

Distribution: Population and trend

Australian mature population estimate: Approximately 40,100 individuals, with an estimated range of 8,100 to 125,300.

Australian trend: Continuing decline. The most recent analysis estimated a 53% decline over three generations, with a 1993 to 2021 decline of approximately 84.5%.

East Asian, Australasian Flyway trend: A decline of approximately 51.6% over three generations has been reported from Australian monitoring data.

Important site thresholds: An internationally important site regularly supports more than 900 Curlew Sandpipers, while a nationally important site regularly supports more than 90.

Habitat: Australian habitat types

In Australia, Curlew Sandpipers require a connected supply of shallow-water feeding areas and secure roosts. The most suitable sites are open wetlands with exposed soft sediment, shallow water and little dense vegetation across the tidal or seasonal wetting cycle.

The species uses intertidal mudflats and sandflats, sheltered estuaries, bays, inlets, coastal lagoons, saltmarshes and shallow brackish wetlands. It also uses non-tidal swamps, lakes, dams, waterholes, bore drains, saltpans and flooded areas when conditions are suitable.

Inland wetlands may be used in both the Murray-Darling Basin and other inland regions. Temporary wetlands formed after abnormal rainfall can provide additional habitat.

Habitat: Structural features

Suitable feeding habitat generally has exposed sandy or soft mud substrates, shallow water and open edges. Roosts are often close to feeding areas and may include bare sand, mud, shell or shingle.

Low, sparse emergent vegetation, saltmarsh and damp substrates may be used when high tide or hot conditions limit access to open mud. Dense mangrove or cordgrass growth can reduce the open intertidal habitat available to the species.

  • Retain a mosaic of shallow water, exposed mud or sand, open wetland margins and nearby undisturbed roosts.
  • Assess direct and indirect effects on wetlands beyond the construction footprint, including changed drainage, sediment movement, salinity, lighting, noise and access by people or dogs.
  • Do not assume that an inland wetland is unsuitable solely because it is not tidal.

Habitat: Climate and elevation

The supplied sources describe breeding in high Arctic tundra and non-breeding use of coastal, subcoastal and inland Australian wetlands. They do not provide a species-specific elevation limit for Australian sites.

Wetland suitability is strongly affected by rainfall, drought, tidal conditions, freshwater inflow, sediment supply and sea level. These factors can change the location and extent of usable habitat between years.

Foraging habitat: Diet

Curlew Sandpipers feed in shallow water and on exposed wet sediment. Their specialised probing behaviour means that changes to sediment structure, water depth or access to intertidal flats can reduce habitat value even when a wetland remains present.

In Australia and other non-breeding areas, the diet includes polychaete worms, molluscs and crustaceans such as amphipods, brine shrimps and copepods. Insects and seeds are taken occasionally.

On the Arctic breeding grounds, the diet consists mainly of insects, including flies, midges, craneflies and beetles, as well as bugs and leeches.

Foraging habitat: Feeding method and locations

Birds usually feed in mixed flocks, pecking prey from the mud surface or making shallow probes below the surface. They generally forage on mudflats and in nearby shallow water.

In non-tidal wetlands, they usually wade in water 15 to 30 mm deep, but may use water up to 60 mm deep. In intertidal areas, they feed at the edge of shallow pools and drains, along sandy shores and on mud exposed by the falling tide.

They may also forage on mudflats exposed for longer periods, wet mats of algae or waterweed, beach-cast seagrass or seaweed, low sparse saltmarsh, flooded paddocks and inundated saltflats.

Typical non-tidal foraging depth: 15 to 30 mm, with use recorded up to 60 mm.

  • Retain soft, exposed sediment and shallow wet areas rather than allowing them to be filled, compacted or overgrown.
  • Prevent vehicle access, stock access and construction activity on soft intertidal or wetland sediments where these activities could compact the substrate or disturb feeding flocks.
  • Survey shallow wetland margins and exposed mud during the period when migratory birds are present, not only during high tide.

Foraging habitat: Foraging area and site dependence

The species may return to the same non-breeding sites each year. A network of feeding and roosting sites is needed because birds must respond to tides, drought, flooding and other environmental changes.

Northward migration involves greater dependence on fewer sites and longer use of some stopover sites. Loss or disturbance at one feeding site can therefore affect energy reserves needed for onward migration.

Breeding habitat: Breeding biology

Curlew Sandpipers do not breed in Australia. They breed during the northern summer in Arctic Siberia, so Australian projects generally affect non-breeding, staging or migratory habitat rather than nesting habitat.

Breeding season: June to July in Arctic Siberia.

Nest: A shallow ground scrape lined with leaves, moss and lichens.

Clutch size: Usually 4 eggs, with reported clutches of 3 to 8 eggs.

Incubation: 19 to 21 days.

Parental care: The female builds the nest, incubates the eggs and raises the young alone.

Fledging: Chicks leave the nest soon after hatching and fledge approximately two weeks later.

Age at maturity and lifespan: The supplied sources do not provide a confirmed age at maturity or lifespan suitable for field planning. One NSW source reports breeding at 2 years and an oldest recorded bird of 19 years, while also noting uncertainty in generation-length estimates.

Breeding habitat: Breeding habitat

Nests are placed on the margins of marshes or pools, on slopes of hummock tundra, or on dry patches within Polygonum tundra. The broader breeding habitat is open Arctic tundra with marshy or boggy depressions and pools formed by melting snow and permafrost.

Breeding densities have been reported from 2 to 3 nests per square kilometre up to 50 nests per square kilometre. Most nests are usually 200 to 300 m apart, although several females may nest close together.

Reported nest density: 2 to 3 nests per square kilometre up to 50 nests per square kilometre.

Typical nest spacing: Most nests are 200 to 300 m apart.

Sheltering habitat: Roosts

In Australia, sheltering habitat means secure high-tide and heat refuge rather than a nest, den or hollow. Roosts are often open but sheltered places close to feeding wetlands, and birds may gather in large mixed-species flocks.

Roosting mainly occurs around intertidal mudflats in sheltered estuaries, bays, inlets and lagoons. Other roosts include non-tidal swamps, lakes and coastal lagoons, often near exposed mud or sand.

The species also roosts on large intertidal sandflats, spits and banks, and less often on mudflats, saltpans, sandy ocean beaches, rock platforms or coral reef flats. Inland roosts may occur on muddy edges of marshes, rivers and saline or freshwater lakes, as well as dams, waterholes, bore drains and flooded areas.

  • Search for roosts above or beside feeding habitat, especially on bare sand, mud, shell, shingle, spits, islands, banks and low open saltmarsh.
  • Inspect sheltered wetland margins during high tide, when birds may leave feeding flats and concentrate at roosts.
  • Maintain an undisturbed buffer around active roosts and avoid directing lights towards them.

Sheltering habitat: Conditions affecting roost choice

Roosts may be selected for shelter from wind and heavy rain during cyclonic conditions. In hot weather, birds may use damp substrate that lowers local temperature.

Curlew Sandpipers are gregarious and mix with other small shorebirds when feeding and roosting. A site with no birds during one visit should not be treated as unused without considering tide, rainfall, season and recent disturbance.

Sheltering habitat: Breeding shelter

Australian projects are not expected to encounter breeding nests because breeding occurs in Arctic Siberia. If a project involves imported materials, captive birds or unusual records outside the normal Australian context, specialist advice is appropriate.

Threats: Clearing and habitat modification

The main project-related risks are loss or modification of wetland habitat, disturbance at feeding and roosting sites, altered water or sediment regimes and indirect effects that reduce prey availability. These risks are significant because the species is already undergoing a severe decline.

Coastal development, landfill, reclamation, roads, ports, marinas, canals, resorts, salt production and urban drainage can remove or degrade feeding and roosting habitat. Aquaculture can compact sediment, alter soft-sediment structure, add nutrients or debris and restrict access to intertidal feeding areas.

Mangrove or cordgrass invasion can replace open mudflats and saltmarsh used for feeding and roosting. Cordgrass can also hinder movement through the intertidal zone.

  • Avoid clearing, filling or reclaiming intertidal flats, shallow wetlands, saltmarsh, wetland edges and known roosts.
  • Keep construction compounds, spoil, access tracks and stockpiles outside wetland feeding and roosting areas.
  • Control sediment, stormwater, rubbish, weeds and accidental discharges so that wetland salinity, turbidity and substrate are not changed.

Threats: Hydrology, sediment and climate

Reduced river flows, dams and water diversion can reduce flooding and sediment delivery to wetlands. Drought can reduce food resources and roost availability, while sea level rise can submerge coastal feeding habitat where wetlands cannot move inland.

Changes to drainage, tidal exchange, salinity, inundation depth or sediment supply can make apparently suitable habitat unavailable.

  • Maintain natural inflows, seasonal wetting patterns and tidal connections where practicable.
  • Assess whether works will change water depth at shallow feeding margins, especially the 15 to 30 mm range commonly used in non-tidal wetlands.
  • Allow room for wetland habitat to shift inland where sea level rise or changed water levels are relevant.

Threats: Disturbance, roads and access

People, vehicles, dogs, fishing, shellfish harvesting, recreation, aquaculture and construction noise can cause birds to stop feeding or leave roosts. Repeated disturbance can reduce energy reserves and affect survival or later breeding success.

Roads and tracks can increase access to mudflats and roosts, introduce vehicle disturbance and compact soft sediment. The supplied sources do not identify a species-specific road mortality rate, but access-related disturbance and sediment damage should be treated as project risks where roads approach wetlands.

  • Use exclusion fencing, access controls and clear signage to keep workers, vehicles and dogs away from active feeding and roosting areas.
  • Schedule noisy or highly visible works outside the period when Curlew Sandpipers are present where practicable, and monitor for flushing during works.
  • Do not place roads, lighting, laydown areas or regular pedestrian routes between feeding areas and nearby roosts.

Threats: Predators, disease and other pressures

The supplied sources identify hunting, incidental drowning in fishing nets and traps, pollution, oil, pesticides and disease susceptibility as pressures across the species' range. They do not identify a project-specific Australian predator control requirement or a quantified effect of fire on Curlew Sandpipers.

Avian influenza and avian botulism may threaten the species. Fire is not described as a primary direct threat in the supplied documents, but burning wetland vegetation, saltmarsh or roost margins can alter cover, substrate and prey conditions.

  • Prevent rubbish, food waste and conditions that attract foxes, cats or dogs to wetland roosts and feeding areas.
  • Report unusual shorebird deaths or sick birds through the relevant wildlife and biosecurity authorities, and avoid handling live or dead birds unless authorised.
  • Do not burn or clear saltmarsh, wetland margins or roost vegetation without assessing timing, habitat function and cumulative disturbance.

Survey methodology: 1. Habitat assessment and desktop review

Curlew Sandpipers are migratory shorebirds that are usually detected by visual surveys in suitable wetland habitat, rather than by trapping or spotlighting. Survey effort should focus on intertidal mudflats, shallow wetlands, saltmarsh, estuaries, lagoons and muddy edges of inland waterbodies, including nearby roost sites.

Before fieldwork, map all wetlands, drainage lines, shallow water, exposed mud or sand, saltmarsh, flooded areas and potential roost sites within and near the project area.

Review recent records and the National Directory of Important Migratory Shorebird Habitat, and check whether the site is nationally or internationally important for curlew sandpipers.

Assess both feeding and roosting habitat because the species requires a network of sites during the non-breeding season.

Typical Australian habitat: Intertidal mudflats and sandflats, estuaries, coastal lagoons, saltmarsh, shallow drains, flooded paddocks, saltflats, inland lakes, dams and wetland margins.

Important site thresholds: More than 900 curlew sandpipers for an internationally important site, or more than 90 for a nationally important site, when regularly supported.

Survey methodology: 2. Diurnal wetland counts

Conduct systematic searches from the edge of suitable habitat using binoculars and a telescope where available.

Walk or slowly scan the full accessible wetland margin, mudflat and roost area, recording all curlew sandpipers and other shorebirds separately.

Use vantage points that avoid entering feeding or roosting areas where entry would flush birds or damage soft substrates.

Australian occurrence: Most birds in Australia are in non-breeding plumage, with a grey-brown upper surface, white underparts, a white eyebrow, white rump and broad wingbar.

Foraging water depth: Usually 15 to 30 mm in non-tidal wetlands, but up to 60 mm.

  • Repeat counts across suitable wetlands and roosts rather than relying on a single observation point.
  • Record the number of birds, plumage, behaviour, location, habitat type, water depth where relevant, tide or water level, weather, time and disturbance events.
  • Treat small or distant sandpipers as unidentified until the long, down-curved bill, white rump and wingbar, and other distinguishing features can be confirmed.

Survey methodology: 3. Timing and survey conditions

Survey during the Australian non-breeding period, when birds arrive from late August onwards and are generally present until migration begins northward from March, allowing for regional variation.

At coastal sites, survey mudflats and shallow margins during suitable tidal periods when feeding areas are exposed, and survey roosts around high tide when birds gather in sheltered locations.

At inland wetlands, survey after rainfall or flooding when shallow water and exposed muddy margins are available, because temporary wetlands can provide additional habitat.

Southward arrival: Adults reach northern Australia in late August and early September, and most birds reach south-eastern Australia in September.

Northward migration: The northward migration begins in March, with many birds departing Australian coastal sites between January and April depending on region.

  • Avoid conducting the main count during strong wind, heavy rain, poor visibility or conditions that prevent reliable identification.
  • Record tide, rainfall, water level and any recent flooding so that a nil result is not misinterpreted as absence.
  • Repeat surveys if habitat is temporarily dry, fully flooded or otherwise unsuitable during the first visit.

Survey methodology: 4. Targeted disturbance and habitat-use observations

Where works may affect a wetland, observe the site before construction to identify feeding areas, roosts, regular flight paths and areas used during changing tide or water levels.

Record flushing distance, flight direction, duration of disturbance, return time and whether birds abandon feeding or roosting habitat.

Use observations to set project-specific exclusion areas and work controls through the environmental management plan.

  • Do not repeatedly approach birds to improve identification or count accuracy.
  • Survey adjoining wetlands and nearby alternative roosts when the project could displace birds from the site.
  • Do not use cage traps, mist nets, harp traps or other capture methods for this species unless a separate authority and approved fauna research method are in place.

Survey methodology: Minimum effort and reporting

  • Use a qualified ecologist to determine the number and timing of repeat wetland counts from the habitat present, the season, tidal conditions, water levels and the proposed impact.
  • Document the searched area, survey dates, start and finish times, observers, equipment, weather, tide or water level, effort, access constraints, habitat condition, all detections and any disturbance response.
  • Submit verified records to the relevant state or territory wildlife records database and to the relevant project and Commonwealth threatened species databases where required.
  • Retain photographs, coordinates, field sheets, track logs, count data and nil-result evidence with the project environmental records.
  • Escalate any record from a proposed impact area to the project ecologist and environmental manager before works continue in that area.

Before habitat disturbance: Avoid and minimise impacts

Treat suitable feeding and roosting habitat as a project constraint. Curlew Sandpipers are listed as Critically Endangered under the EPBC Act and are also protected as a migratory species, so habitat loss, disturbance and changes to wetland function need to be assessed before clearing or construction.

Habitat critical to survival: A mosaic of feeding and roosting habitat, including exposed sandy or soft mud substrates, intertidal flats, beaches, estuaries, coastal lagoons, bays and suitable inland wetland margins.

  • Redesign works to retain exposed mud and sand, shallow wetland margins, intertidal flats, saltmarsh, estuaries, lagoons, drains and nearby sheltered roosts.
  • Retain connected wetland habitat and flight access between feeding areas, roosts and adjoining wetlands.
  • Avoid filling, draining, sediment deposition, altered salinity, changed inundation patterns, lighting and vegetation encroachment in or beside suitable habitat.
  • Avoid works that remove or modify habitat regularly supporting more than 90 curlew sandpipers, and refer sites supporting more than 900 birds for assessment as potentially internationally important habitat.
  • Set project-specific no-go areas, disturbance buffers and lighting controls from survey results and the significance assessment, because the supplied documents do not prescribe a universal construction buffer.

Before habitat disturbance: Approvals and planning

EPBC status: Critically Endangered and listed as a migratory species.

  • Check whether the action is likely to have a significant impact on the EPBC Act listed species, its important habitat or its migratory habitat, and refer the action to the Australian Government where required.
  • Check the threatened species, wildlife, native vegetation, wetlands, waterway and planning approval requirements in the state or territory where the project occurs.
  • Obtain any required permits before handling, temporarily holding, relocating or rehabilitating fauna.
  • Prepare a fauna management plan that identifies suitable habitat, exclusion areas, wetland protection measures, daily inspection requirements, stop-work triggers, incident contacts and reporting obligations.
  • Stage works to keep feeding and roosting habitat available throughout construction and to avoid isolating retained wetlands.

Before habitat disturbance: Pre-clearance site preparation

  • Complete a pre-clearance inspection of all wetland and roost habitat shortly before works, with timing suited to the species' presence in the region.
  • Mark no-go wetland areas, access routes, exclusion zones and retained roosts on plans and in the field.
  • Install exclusion fencing where it will prevent machinery, people, stock, dogs and vehicles entering retained habitat without blocking bird movement between retained wetland areas.
  • Locate sediment, dust, fuel, spoil, lighting and stormwater controls outside retained feeding and roosting habitat wherever practicable.
  • Brief all workers that a bird may be present even when no individuals are detected during a single inspection.

During habitat disturbance: Daily controls and spotter duties

The primary field risk is disturbance, habitat loss and wetland degradation, not capture of birds in trees or ground structures. The fauna spotter catcher should work with the supervisor and plant operators to prevent birds being flushed repeatedly and to stop work when the approved controls are no longer effective.

  • Inspect work areas, retained wetland margins, roosts, access tracks, stockpiles and sediment controls before daily works begin.
  • Check for curlew sandpipers and other shorebirds at feeding and roosting sites, including areas temporarily inundated after rain.
  • Keep machinery, people, vehicles, dogs and lighting out of marked exclusion areas.
  • Use the least disturbing access route and keep vehicles on defined tracks.
  • Coordinate the fauna spotter catcher, site supervisor and machine operators by radio or agreed visual signals.
  • Stop or change the activity if birds repeatedly flush, circle, abandon a roost or cannot return to feeding habitat.

During habitat disturbance: Habitat and wetland protection

  • Prevent sediment, concrete washout, rubbish, hydrocarbons, pesticides and nutrient-rich runoff entering feeding or roosting wetlands.
  • Maintain natural water levels, tidal exchange, drainage and sediment movement unless an approved design specifically addresses the ecological impact.
  • Do not clear saltmarsh, mudflat vegetation or low sparse roost vegetation unless the impact has been assessed and approved.
  • Do not use bright lights directed across wetlands or roosts during the non-breeding season.
  • Manage construction noise, dust and vehicle movement to reduce repeated disturbance at feeding and roosting sites.

During habitat disturbance: If a bird is found

  • Stop the immediate activity if the bird is inside the work area or is being repeatedly flushed by the activity.
  • Allow an uninjured bird to leave under its own power where it can move safely to retained habitat.
  • Do not chase, catch, handle, temporarily hold or relocate a curlew sandpiper unless the person is authorised under the relevant permit and the fauna management plan.
  • If relocation is authorised, move the bird only to nearby suitable retained wetland habitat identified by the project ecologist, without placing it in an occupied roost or forcing it into unsuitable habitat.
  • Place an injured or grounded bird in the care of an authorised wildlife carer or veterinarian through the approved fauna response process.
  • Record the location, time, condition, photographs where safe, activity causing the incident, action taken and final outcome.

During habitat disturbance: Stop-work triggers and records

  • Stop work and notify the environmental manager if a curlew sandpiper is injured, trapped, unable to leave, found within an exclusion zone, or repeatedly displaced from feeding or roosting habitat.
  • Stop work if sediment, wastewater, fuel, dust or spoil enters suitable wetland habitat or if approved buffers and access controls fail.
  • Stop work if an unapproved wetland, roost or regular flight path is identified within the impact area.
  • Maintain daily records of inspections, bird numbers, behaviour, disturbance events, controls, incidents, corrective actions and approvals to resume work.

After habitat disturbance: Post-clearance and completion checks

Completion does not end the risk. Check that retained wetlands and roosts remain usable, that construction has not changed water movement or sediment conditions, and that birds have not been displaced from the project area or nearby habitat.

  • Inspect cleared and adjoining areas for stranded, injured or dead fauna and for birds trapped behind fencing, drains, pits or other structures.
  • Remove temporary fencing, stockpiles, lighting and access controls only after the environmental manager confirms that they will not expose retained habitat to further disturbance.
  • Check wetland edges, mudflats, saltmarsh and roosts for sediment, erosion, pollution, altered drainage, vegetation invasion and construction debris.
  • Repair failed erosion, sediment, drainage and exclusion controls immediately.

After habitat disturbance: Monitoring and reporting

  • Repeat standardised counts at retained feeding and roosting habitat during the next suitable non-breeding period and compare results with pre-work counts where those data exist.
  • Continue monitoring after rainfall, flooding, major water-level changes and construction stages that alter drainage or access to habitat.
  • Report any confirmed impact, injury, mortality, habitat loss, disturbance-related displacement or failure of mitigation through the approval conditions and relevant state and Commonwealth reporting pathways.
  • Keep monitoring data, photographs, locations, dates, methods and corrective actions with the project completion records.

After habitat disturbance: Offsets and residual impacts

  • Reassess residual impacts after avoidance, mitigation and rehabilitation measures are applied.
  • Seek advice on an EPBC offset or other approval measure if a significant residual impact remains and an approval decision requires it.
  • Do not treat an offset as a substitute for retaining feeding and roosting habitat at the project site.

Rehabilitation actions: Restore wetland structure and hydrology

Rehabilitation should restore shallow wetland function and a connected mosaic of feeding and roosting habitat. The target is open, accessible substrate with suitable water depth, nearby sheltered roosting areas and low disturbance, rather than dense terrestrial vegetation.

Preferred non-tidal foraging depth: Usually 15 to 30 mm, with use recorded up to 60 mm.

  • Reinstate shallow wetland margins, exposed soft mud and sandy substrates where these were temporarily disturbed.
  • Design drainage and water-control structures to maintain suitable shallow water, natural wetting and drying, sediment movement and tidal exchange where applicable.
  • Provide nearby sheltered roosting areas around estuaries, lagoons, bays, mudflats and inland wetlands without blocking access between feeding and roosting habitat.
  • Avoid creating deep, steep-sided or permanently flooded basins that remove the shallow margins used for foraging.

Rehabilitation actions: Vegetation, weeds and predators

  • Retain or restore saltmarsh and other low sparse wetland vegetation where it provides high-tide shelter without covering open feeding substrate.
  • Control invasive cordgrass and other weeds that convert open mudflats into dense vegetation and reduce feeding or roosting habitat.
  • Prevent new infestations through clean machinery, weed hygiene and follow-up treatment.
  • Manage rubbish, artificial food sources, feral animals and domestic dogs where they cause disturbance or predation risk at roosts.
  • Use fire planning that protects saltmarsh, wetland margins and adjoining roost habitat, because the supplied documents do not provide a species-specific fire interval.

Rehabilitation actions: Habitat features and planting

  • Do not install hollow logs, nest boxes or rock piles as a default curlew sandpiper measure because this species forages and roosts in open wetland habitat rather than using tree hollows or terrestrial shelter structures.
  • Use locally appropriate wetland and saltmarsh species only where planting is needed to stabilise or restore suitable habitat, and retain open mud and shallow water for foraging.
  • Place any screening vegetation away from open feeding areas and sightlines needed by birds at roosts.

Rehabilitation actions: Success measures and adaptive management

  • Set success measures for restored wetland area, retained open mud or sand, suitable shallow water, functioning drainage or tidal exchange, weed control, low disturbance and use by shorebirds.
  • Survey rehabilitated areas during the non-breeding season using the same count method, locations and timing used for baseline surveys.
  • Record curlew sandpiper presence, numbers, feeding and roosting behaviour, disturbance responses and use of adjoining habitat.
  • Modify water levels, weed treatment, access controls or planting if monitoring shows that open feeding substrate, shallow water or roost availability is declining.
  • Continue management until the site meets the approved rehabilitation criteria and monitoring shows that habitat function is stable.

Sources