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Grey-tailed Tattler (Tringa brevipes)

The Grey-tailed Tattler is a medium-sized migratory shorebird that visits coastal Australia, especially northern estuaries, mudflats, rocky shores and mangroves. On works sites, birds may feed on intertidal flats or roost nearby in mangroves and other high-tide refuges, where clearing, access, noise, lighting and machinery can cause disturbance. It is listed as migratory under the EPBC Act, and is Critically Endangered in Victoria. In Queensland, it is a special least concern animal under the relevant migratory bird provisions.

Conservation status

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

Western Australia, WA Threatened and Priority Fauna List: Near threatened. Priority 4 (rare, near threatened) on the Western Australian priority fauna list. Priority species are not listed under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 but should be considered in assessments.

Commonwealth, EPBC Act 1999: Listed migratory. Listed under the Bonn Convention, CAMBA, JAMBA and ROKAMBA. Listed migratory species are a matter of national environmental significance, so a significant impact needs referral.

Queensland, Nature Conservation Act 1992: Special least concern. A least concern bird covered by an international migratory bird agreement. Tampering with its breeding place needs a high risk species management program.

Migration and breeding season

Grey-tailed Tattlers are non-breeding migrants in Australia. They usually return to northern Australia in September, move south along the coast into November, and usually leave Australia in April. Timing can vary between regions and years.

Breeding mode: Breeding occurs overseas. The species is believed to breed as pairs in central and eastern Siberia.

Breeding habitat: Alpine tundra, with possible breeding in mountain areas of the Kamchatka Peninsula and Kurile Islands.

Clutch size: Not recorded.

Incubation period: Not recorded.

Fledging period: Not recorded.

Breeding frequency: Not recorded.

Arrival, departure and local movements can vary between years and regions, so site surveys should confirm current use of feeding areas and high-tide roosts before clearing or construction.

  • Breeding overseas, central and eastern Siberia: Breeding is associated with the northern hemisphere spring and summer, broadly mid-April to mid-August, but species-specific timing is poorly documented.
  • Southward arrival in Australia: Adults usually return to northern Australia in September and may continue moving south along the coast until November.
  • Non-breeding presence in Australia: Most birds are present during the austral summer, using coastal mudflats, rocky shores, mangroves, estuaries and high-tide roosts.
  • Northward departure from Australia: The species usually leaves Australia in April for its overseas breeding grounds.
  • Highest clearing risk: The greatest risk is during September to April, when migratory birds are arriving, concentrated at feeding and roosting sites, or departing for breeding grounds.

Identification: Appearance

Grey-tailed Tattlers are medium-sized, compact shorebirds with a plain grey appearance outside the breeding season. They are usually identified by their grey plumage, white face pattern, straight bill and yellow legs, but check several features together in the field.

In non-breeding plumage, the crown, neck, back, wings and upper breast are uniformly grey. The throat and chin are white, the lowerparts are white, and a white supercilium extends behind the eye.

The bill is longish, dark and straight, with a paler base. Legs range from dull yellow to yellow. Adults developing breeding plumage can show fine grey barring on the underparts and heavier barring across the chest.

  • Juveniles resemble non-breeding adults but have buff edges and scalloping on fresh wing and cover feathers.
  • Fresh adult coverts are generally plain grey, sometimes with pale white fringes.

Identification: Calls and similar species

Do not rely on calls for identification on a construction site. Confirm the bird visually and, where possible, obtain photographs through a spotting scope or telephoto lens.

The Wandering Tattler is generally darker. Its eye stripe does not extend as far behind the eye. The Terek Sandpiper is smaller, darker and often has more orange legs. Its upturned bill is distinctive.

Identification: Field signs

Grey-tailed Tattlers do not make nests or breeding colonies in Australia. Look instead for birds feeding on exposed intertidal surfaces or roosting in mangroves, on rocky edges, beaches, sandbars, claypans or nearby saltmarsh.

Droppings, whitewash, stains and odour are not reliable species-level field signs. Record the bird count, location, tide, behaviour, direction of flight and any disturbance response.

  • Treat repeated use of the same high-tide location as significant, even when birds are absent during one inspection.
  • Avoid flushing birds to obtain an identification photograph.

Distribution: Australian range

In Australia, the Grey-tailed Tattler occurs along the coast and on offshore islands. It is more abundant in northern Australia, but records extend around the mainland coast and into Tasmania and Victoria.

The species is mapped in New South Wales, the Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia. It can occur in estuaries, sheltered coastal areas, mudflats, rocky shores and mangrove systems.

Important records include Moreton Bay in Queensland, Broome and Roebuck Bay in Western Australia, Port Hedland and other northwest Australian sites, and Corner Inlet in Victoria.

  • Check nearby intertidal habitat even when no birds are present inside the works footprint.
  • Include adjacent mangroves, rocky islets, beaches, claypans and shoreline roosts in the site assessment.

Distribution: Overseas range

The species breeds in alpine tundra across central and eastern Siberia, from south of the Taimyr Peninsula towards the Anadyr Plateau. Breeding may also occur in mountain areas of the Kamchatka Peninsula and the Kurile Islands.

Australia is used mainly during the non-breeding season. The species is part of the East Asian to Australasian Flyway.

Distribution: Site records and significance

Moreton Bay supports more than 1 percent of the known flyway population. Port Hedland has also supported internationally significant numbers, including 588 birds in an April survey.

At Toondah Harbour, tidal flats have supported more than 0.1 percent of the flyway population in some recent assessment periods. A site supporting at least 0.1 percent of the flyway population of one migratory shorebird can meet the important habitat concept used in EPBC guidance.

  • Record all observations by species, count, tide and habitat.
  • Flag repeated use of a site to the project ecologist, even if individual counts are modest.

Habitat: Features to inspect

Look for Grey-tailed Tattlers wherever sheltered coastal habitat combines exposed feeding surfaces with nearby places to rest. They often use more than one habitat type during a single tidal cycle.

Inspect estuaries, tidal creeks, mudflats, sandflats, rocky shorelines, coral rubble, beaches, sandbars, mangroves, claypans and saltmarsh near the high-tide mark.

The species often uses hard intertidal substrates and rocky areas exposed at low tide. Muddy areas associated with mangroves can also provide feeding habitat.

  • Map the full intertidal area, not just the proposed clearing footprint.
  • Identify the nearest high-tide roost and the flight path between the roost and feeding area.
  • Check natural and artificial rocky edges, including seawalls and exposed rock platforms.

Habitat: Tidal setting

Feeding habitat is exposed at low tide. Roosts are used when feeding areas are covered by water, so a site can be important even if birds are only visible for part of the tidal cycle.

Roost selection is influenced by distance from feeding areas, inundation risk, predator visibility, shelter, substrate temperature and background colour.

Habitat: Habitat connectivity

Keep the relationship between feeding flats and roosts in view during planning. Long flights between these areas increase energy use and can reduce the birds' ability to build reserves for migration.

Grey-tailed Tattlers in Moreton Bay show strong fidelity to particular roosts. Do not assume that a nearby alternative roost will be used without evidence.

Foraging habitat: Foraging sites

Grey-tailed Tattlers forage on exposed intertidal surfaces, often alone or in small groups. They may be overlooked when surveys are restricted to high-tide roosts.

Search mudflats, sandflats, rocky platforms, coral rubble, tidal creek edges and hard surfaces around mangroves. Sheltered coasts and estuaries are useful areas to check.

At low tide, look for birds walking across the surface and probing sediment or picking prey from rocks and other hard substrates.

  • Survey the whole accessible intertidal area within and beside the works footprint.
  • Include areas beneath jetties, beside seawalls and around small rocky islets where safe to do so.
  • Record whether birds are feeding, loafing, bathing or flying.

Foraging habitat: Food and feeding conditions

The species feeds on benthic invertebrates. Shorebird prey in these habitats includes crustaceans, molluscs and polychaete worms.

Dredging, reclamation, sediment disturbance and changes to water quality can reduce the availability or accessibility of prey, even where the surface area of habitat loss is small.

  • Record exposed mud, rock and rubble condition.
  • Note algal cover, standing water, sediment deposition and visible changes caused by machinery or runoff.

Foraging habitat: Survey approach

Low-tide counts should be paired with high-tide roost counts. Use a suitable vantage point and avoid walking through feeding flocks or approaching birds closely.

For a project assessment, survey during the main non-breeding period, roughly October to March. Complete at least two summer surveys and at least two surveys timed around high tide, with additional visits where tides, weather or access affect detection.

Breeding habitat: Breeding range

Grey-tailed Tattlers do not breed in Australia. Australian works sites are used mainly by non-breeding migrants, so breeding-place protection is generally not the main field issue here.

Breeding occurs in alpine tundra across central and eastern Siberia. Possible breeding areas also include mountains of the Kamchatka Peninsula and the Kurile Islands.

The species is not known from Australian breeding colonies, nests or breeding territories during its usual Australian stay.

Breeding habitat: Site implications

Do not expect nests, chicks or breeding colonies in Australian coastal works areas. Manage the site as non-breeding habitat, with emphasis on feeding areas, high-tide roosts and movement routes.

If an unusual nesting observation is made, stop the immediate activity and obtain advice from the project ecologist or relevant wildlife authority.

  • Do not clear or disturb habitat on the assumption that no breeding birds means no conservation issue.
  • Queensland projects should still check the special least concern provisions that apply to migratory birds covered by international agreements.

Sheltering habitat: Roost features

High-tide roosts are often the most sensitive places on a coastal works site. Grey-tailed Tattlers may return repeatedly to the same mangrove, shoreline or rocky roost and can be displaced by short-term disturbance.

Look for grey mangroves, especially scattered trees along the outer edge of a mangrove patch, as well as rocky islets, beaches, sandbars, claypans, saltmarsh and quiet shoreline edges.

Roosts are often close to feeding flats. Birds prefer places with a clear view of approaching predators, limited tall cover and low risk of inundation during the relevant tide.

  • Search mangroves from a distance before entering the intertidal area.
  • Inspect both sides of islands, shoreline points and sandbars.
  • Map the core roost and the wider approach and flight area.

Sheltering habitat: Roost counts and examples

Roost numbers can change with tide, weather, disturbance and local food conditions. A single count should not be treated as the site's full capacity.

Examples include 215 Grey-tailed Tattlers in offshore mangroves at Toondah Harbour, 280 at a Broome roost and 410 at one site in Roebuck Bay.

  • Record maximum count, count date, tide stage and whether birds were roosting or moving.
  • Note other shorebird species using the same roost.

Sheltering habitat: Practical protection

Keep people, dogs, vehicles and machinery away from active roosts. Use fencing, screening and clear access controls where public or worker access could cause repeated flushing.

Project assessments should set site-specific buffers using the roost location, line of sight, terrain, background noise and disturbance history. A walker caused flight initiation at an average distance of 23 m in one Toondah Harbour assessment, but larger buffers may be needed where disturbance is frequent or unavoidable.

  • Avoid night lighting directed at mangroves, mudflats or roosts.
  • Keep high-tide access routes and flight paths clear.
  • Use a fauna spotter catcher or ecologist to monitor the roost during high-risk works.

Migration and seasonal presence: Seasonal presence

Grey-tailed Tattlers are non-breeding migrants in Australia. Most birds arrive for the austral summer, although passage and winter records occur and timing varies between regions.

The species usually leaves Australia in April. It generally returns to northern Australia in September, then moves progressively south along the coast until November.

Numbers often increase from September as migratory shorebirds arrive. Surveys in northwest Australia from December to February covered the period when most migratory shorebirds were present.

  • Treat September to November as a likely arrival and passage period.
  • Treat October to March as the main non-breeding survey period.
  • Do not assume the species is absent in winter. It has been recorded in Australia from June to October in Queensland surveys and during winter at Toondah Harbour.

Migration and seasonal presence: Breeding and non-breeding areas

Birds leave Australia to breed in alpine tundra and possible mountain habitats in Siberia and nearby regions. They return to Australian coastal wetlands, estuaries, rocky shores and mangroves to feed and rest.

Some birds may remain in Australia outside the main season, including immature birds or individuals using local winter resources.

Migration and seasonal presence: Important habitat in Australia

Under migratory shorebird guidance, important habitat can include a site supporting at least 0.1 percent of the flyway population of one species, at least 2,000 migratory shorebirds, or at least 15 migratory shorebird species.

A site may also be important where it provides regular feeding, roosting or movement habitat for a migratory shorebird, particularly where feeding flats and high-tide roosts function together.

  • Assess both high-tide roosts and low-tide feeding areas.
  • Refer to EPBC Act Policy Statement 3.21 and the 2017 industry guidelines when planning surveys and impact controls.
  • Use repeated counts where possible, rather than relying on one visit.

Migration and seasonal presence: Survey timing and method

Plan surveys during the main non-breeding period, roughly October to March. Complete at least two summer surveys and at least two high-tide surveys, using suitable vantage points and consistent count methods.

Record tide, weather, date, time, bird numbers, behaviour, roost location, feeding location and all disturbance events. Include people, dogs, vehicles, vessels, aircraft, lighting, noise and machinery.

  • Keep observers outside the active roost and use scopes where possible.
  • Pair high-tide roost counts with low-tide feeding counts.
  • Repeat surveys when birds may be displaced by works or when access, weather or tide prevents a reliable count.

Threats: Habitat loss and alteration

The main risks on clearing and construction sites are loss of intertidal feeding habitat, disturbance of high-tide roosts and disruption of movement between feeding and roosting areas. Effects can occur without direct injury, particularly when birds are repeatedly flushed or lose feeding time.

Dredging, reclamation, seawalls, access tracks and drainage changes can remove or alter mudflats, sandflats, rocky feeding surfaces and tidal creeks.

Sediment deposition, turbidity, changed tidal flows and reduced prey availability can affect feeding habitat beyond the construction footprint.

  • Map direct and indirect impacts to the full tidal system.
  • Retain natural intertidal surfaces wherever practicable.
  • Prevent sediment and contaminated runoff from entering feeding areas.

Threats: Roost disturbance

People, dogs, vehicles, boats, machinery, noise and lighting can cause birds to become vigilant, walk away or take flight. Repeated disturbance increases energy use and reduces feeding time.

Roosts near development areas may be used daily and may have limited alternatives.

  • Establish a site-specific roost buffer before works begin.
  • Fence or otherwise control access to the roost and its approach area.
  • Use quiet methods near roosts and stop work if birds repeatedly flush.
  • Direct lights away from mangroves, mudflats and shorelines.

Threats: Timing and construction controls

Where practicable, schedule the most disruptive works outside the peak non-breeding period, roughly October to March. If works must occur during this period, use staged construction, exclusion zones and active monitoring.

Maintain access between feeding flats and roosts. Do not block shoreline flight paths or isolate a roost from the intertidal area.

  • Prepare a migratory shorebird management plan for planning, construction and operation.
  • Nominate stop-work triggers for repeated flushing, roost abandonment or unexpected concentrations of birds.
  • Use a fauna spotter catcher or suitably experienced ecologist for high-risk activities.

Threats: Broader pressures

Coastal development adds to pressures on migratory shorebirds that depend on a chain of wetlands along the flyway. Loss and degradation of feeding areas in the Yellow Sea are associated with population declines in migratory birds using Moreton Bay.

Maintain habitat quality and avoid cumulative disturbance, even where a project affects only a small proportion of a larger wetland.

  • Assess nearby projects and existing public access when considering cumulative disturbance.
  • Keep dogs and recreational access away from known roosts.
  • Retain screening and quiet refuge areas where they do not obstruct predator visibility or bird movement.

Survey methodology: 1. Desktop assessment

Survey Grey-tailed Tattlers as migratory shorebirds that use intertidal feeding areas and nearby high tide roosts. Plan fieldwork around tides, daylight, seasonal presence and the risk of disturbance.

Map intertidal mudflats, sandflats, rocky shores, mangroves, saltmarsh, claypans, beaches, sandbars and estuaries.

Identify high tide roosts near the work area. Grey-tailed Tattlers may show strong fidelity to particular roosts, so check local records and repeated survey data.

Check whether the site is within or near a Ramsar wetland, an important migratory shorebird area, or habitat supporting nationally significant numbers.

Australian status: Migratory under the EPBC Act. In Queensland, it is a special least concern animal where the relevant listing provisions apply.

Main non-breeding period: Roughly October to March, with numbers generally increasing from September in some areas.

  • Review records from state databases, local wader groups, previous environmental assessments and nearby shorebird counts.
  • Treat habitat as potentially important where it supports at least 0.1 percent of the flyway population of Grey-tailed Tattlers, at least 2,000 migratory shorebirds in total, or at least 15 migratory shorebird species.
  • Use the current flyway threshold in the relevant assessment. Examples in regional assessments include 50, 70 and 500 birds, reflecting different population estimates and significance criteria.

Survey methodology: 2. Field survey timing and effort

Survey both low tide feeding habitat and high tide roosts. A low tide survey alone can miss birds sheltering in mangroves, on beaches or on rocky islets.

Use the main non-breeding period, roughly October to March, for impact assessment. Include at least two surveys in summer and at least two surveys around high tide, where the relevant migratory shorebird guidance applies.

Allow enough time to scan the full habitat from suitable vantage points. Repeat observations when birds move between feeding and roosting areas.

  • Schedule low tide counts when mudflats, rocky platforms and other feeding areas are exposed.
  • Schedule high tide counts when birds are concentrated at roosts, without approaching closely enough to flush them.
  • Include surveys during different tide heights and weather conditions where practicable.
  • Consider additional surveys from September to April if the project may affect arrival, departure or passage periods. Grey-tailed Tattlers usually return to northern Australia in September, move south along the coast until November, and usually leave Australia in April.
  • Do not treat December to February records as the full seasonal range. Birds can be present outside that period, including in winter in some locations.

Survey methodology: 3. Detection and identification

Use binoculars and a spotting scope from concealed or distant vantage points. Scan slowly across the whole flock and check rocky shorelines, mangrove edges, tidal creeks and mudflats.

Grey-tailed Tattlers are medium sized grey waders with yellow to dull yellow legs and a straight, fairly long black bill that is paler towards the base. In non-breeding plumage they have a white supercilium, white throat and chin, and a light grey breast.

Separate them from Wandering Tattlers by the paler overall appearance and the longer white eye stripe. Separate them from Terek Sandpipers by the straight bill, larger size and less orange legs.

  • Record birds at rest and while feeding, but avoid repeated close approaches for identification.
  • Use photographs or video where identification is uncertain and where doing so does not increase disturbance.
  • Ask an experienced shorebird observer to confirm difficult records, especially distant birds and mixed flocks.

Survey methodology: 4. Records and disturbance observations

Record the date, start and finish time, tide stage, weather, survey area, observer position and survey conditions.

Map feeding areas, roost locations, flight paths and any movement between sites. Record whether birds were feeding, roosting, loafing, alert, walking away or flying.

Record the number of Grey-tailed Tattlers separately from the total number of migratory shorebirds.

  • Record the highest count and the count present at each observation point.
  • Record people, dogs, vehicles, boats, aircraft, lights, noise, machinery and other disturbances.
  • Record the distance at which birds react. A walker flight initiation distance of about 23 m has been recorded at Toondah Harbour, but use the observed response at each site rather than treating this as a universal buffer.
  • Record whether disturbance caused birds to leave feeding habitat, abandon a roost, circle, land elsewhere or remain displaced.

Before habitat disturbance: 1. Approvals and legal checks

Avoid impacts before work starts. Confirm the legal pathway, map habitat and roosts, and give the work crew clear instructions about stopping and protecting shorebirds.

Screen the proposal under the EPBC Act before clearing, dredging, reclamation, construction or repeated disturbance begins.

Refer the action if it is likely to have a significant impact on the Grey-tailed Tattler or other listed migratory species. Consider loss, degradation and disturbance of feeding habitat, roosts and movement routes.

In Queensland, check whether the activity involves a special least concern animal and whether tampering with a breeding place requires a high risk species management program.

  • Obtain any required EPBC approval, state or territory approval, wildlife permit and authority to conduct fauna handling.
  • Confirm whether a Queensland species management program, or another state fauna management instrument, is required before work starts.
  • Keep approval conditions, survey reports, maps and fauna handling authorities available at the site.

Before habitat disturbance: 2. Avoidance and site design

Keep intertidal feeding habitat and nearby high tide roosts outside the disturbance footprint wherever practicable.

Retain the connection between feeding areas and roosts. Grey-tailed Tattlers may repeatedly use the same roost and may lose feeding time and energy if forced to travel further.

Do not assume a small roost is unimportant. A site may be used by a small number of Grey-tailed Tattlers while supporting a larger mixed shorebird flock.

  • Set out no entry areas around roosts, mangroves, beaches, rocky islets, saltmarsh and claypans before mobilisation.
  • Use project specific buffers based on the survey results, approval conditions, visibility, noise, lighting and the species response.
  • Where an assessment specifies roost buffers, apply them. Examples used in project assessments include 100 m to fringing mangroves, 200 m to a core roost and 250 m from a roost area for urban uses.
  • Keep public access, dogs, vehicles and temporary facilities away from mapped roosts and feeding areas.

Before habitat disturbance: 3. Timing and work planning

Plan work outside periods when shorebirds are concentrated, where the construction program allows. The main non-breeding period in Australia is roughly October to March, and Grey-tailed Tattlers are usually present from September to April.

Avoid high tide work beside an active roost. Avoid low tide work on exposed feeding flats when birds are actively foraging.

Grey-tailed Tattlers breed in alpine tundra and mountain areas of central and eastern Siberia and do not normally breed in Australia. Still, protect any active breeding place found during works and follow the relevant approval and permit conditions.

  • Stage noisy or high traffic activities away from peak shorebird presence where practicable.
  • Schedule access, piling, dredging, lighting installation and vehicle movements to minimise repeated disturbance.
  • Use tide tables and daily site observations to avoid roost occupation and peak feeding periods.

Before habitat disturbance: 4. Pre-clearance survey and exclusion

Complete a pre-clearance inspection immediately before work in or beside shorebird habitat. Use a qualified ecologist or fauna spotter catcher with suitable shorebird experience.

Check the entire work area, access route, laydown area and nearby roosts. Look for birds, injured animals, nests, eggs, dependent young, roosting flocks and signs of repeated use.

Mark exclusion zones in the field and on the site plan. Brief all workers before they enter the work area.

  • Use a low disturbance approach and observe from a distance.
  • Do not walk through a roost to check it. Use binoculars and a spotting scope.
  • Place fencing, signage and visual markers around exclusion areas before machinery arrives.
  • Confirm that lighting is directed away from mudflats and roosts, and use shielding, low spill and the lowest practical intensity.
  • Record the inspection, weather, tide, bird numbers, habitat condition, exclusion zones and the person who approved work to proceed.

Before habitat disturbance: 5. Crew induction

Explain that Grey-tailed Tattlers are protected migratory shorebirds. Show workers the species and the difference between feeding and roosting behaviour.

Give the fauna spotter catcher authority to stop work when a bird, flock, roost or possible breeding place is at risk.

Include disturbance from people, dogs, lights, noise, machinery, boats and vehicles in the induction.

  • Do not chase, handle, feed or photograph birds at close range.
  • Do not enter a marked roost or feeding area without approval from the fauna spotter catcher.
  • Report any bird that is injured, trapped, grounded, unusually tame or unable to fly.
  • Keep dogs out of the work area unless specifically authorised for a fauna management task.

During habitat disturbance: 1. Sequential clearing and access

Use a controlled sequence and keep disturbance local and brief. Stop work early when birds begin to move, rather than waiting for a whole flock to flush.

Clear in small, defined stages. Start from the least sensitive edge and work towards retained habitat only where the fauna management plan allows it.

Keep machinery, vehicles and workers within approved access routes. Do not drive across mudflats, roosts, mangroves or rocky shorelines unless authorised.

Maintain clear escape routes and avoid trapping birds between equipment, water and barriers.

  • Inspect the next work zone before each stage begins.
  • Pause between stages so the fauna spotter catcher can check for birds that have moved into the area.
  • Keep excavations, trenches, pipes and stockpiles covered, fenced or checked at the frequency required by the approval.
  • Stop work if a flock repeatedly circles, lands in an unsafe place or cannot reach a suitable roost.

During habitat disturbance: 2. Stop work and fauna authority

The fauna spotter catcher must have direct radio contact with the site supervisor and authority to stop work without delay.

Stop work if a Grey-tailed Tattler or mixed shorebird flock enters the exclusion zone, if a roost is disturbed, or if an animal is injured or trapped.

Do not restart until the fauna spotter catcher has checked the area and the supervisor has confirmed that controls are in place.

  • Move people and machinery back along the approved route, without walking towards the birds.
  • Reduce noise and switch off non-essential equipment.
  • Allow birds to settle before reassessing the work area.
  • Record the trigger, response distance, duration of disturbance, bird numbers and the restart decision.

During habitat disturbance: 3. Animals, roosts and possible breeding places

Only authorised and trained wildlife personnel may handle a Grey-tailed Tattler. Most healthy birds should be left alone and managed by removing the disturbance.

If an active breeding place, nest, eggs or dependent young is found, stop work and establish the exclusion area required by the approval, permit or species management program. Contact the relevant wildlife authority or project ecologist before work resumes.

If a colony or important roost is found, stop activities that could disturb it and reassess the work method, timing, lighting, noise and buffer.

  • Do not move a roosting flock to make room for machinery.
  • Do not attempt to relocate a nest or breeding animal unless this is expressly authorised.
  • Protect the habitat around a roost, not only the birds visible at the time.
  • Check nearby alternative roosts before any activity that may displace birds.

During habitat disturbance: 4. Injured or trapped animals

Keep people, dogs and machinery away from an injured or trapped bird. Reduce noise and visual pressure while the fauna spotter catcher assesses it.

Contact the project ecologist, wildlife carer or relevant wildlife authority under the approved fauna response procedure.

Use a ventilated container and safe handling method only where an authorised person decides that capture is necessary.

  • Do not give food or water unless directed by a qualified wildlife carer or veterinarian.
  • Record the location, condition, apparent cause, photographs where appropriate, actions taken and destination.
  • If the animal is released, record the release location, time, habitat condition and observed outcome.
  • Treat collision, entanglement, crushing, oiling and heat stress as reportable incidents where required by the approval.

During habitat disturbance: 5. Daily records

Keep a daily fauna log for all Grey-tailed Tattler observations and responses. Link each record to the work area, activity and approval condition.

Use consistent names for roosts, feeding areas and exclusion zones so that records can be compared across the project.

  • Record counts, behaviour, tide, weather, disturbance source, response, buffer used and time taken to settle.
  • Record all stop work events, near misses, injuries, mortalities, captures and releases.
  • Report any exceedance of an approval condition to the site supervisor and environmental manager on the same day.
  • Update the site map when birds use a new roost or feeding area.

After habitat disturbance: 1. Post-clearance checks

Check the work area and surrounding habitat after each disturbance event and at the end of each shift. Use the results to adjust controls before the next tide or work stage.

Inspect the completed work area, access route, retained vegetation, shoreline and nearby roost before machinery leaves and again after the next suitable tide where required.

Look for stranded, injured or dead birds, damaged roost habitat, blocked movement routes, new lighting spill and sediment entering feeding areas.

Check that fences, signs, covers, screens and other controls remain in place.

  • Search quietly from the edge of the area. Do not flush birds to prove that a roost is clear.
  • Check all trenches, pits, pipes, scaffolds and temporary structures for trapped fauna.
  • Record the number and condition of birds using retained habitat after work.

After habitat disturbance: 2. Reporting and compliance

Prepare a fauna report for each work stage and a consolidated report for the project. Include survey results, incidents, controls, outcomes and any changes to the management plan.

Report EPBC, permit and species management program incidents within the required timeframes. Escalate any mortality, repeated roost abandonment or habitat loss immediately.

  • Provide maps showing the work footprint, feeding areas, roosts, buffers and disturbance locations.
  • Include photographs of controls and any damaged habitat.
  • Record whether birds returned to the roost or feeding area, moved to an alternative site or remained absent.
  • Keep records of approvals, inductions, fauna personnel, stop work directions and corrective actions.

After habitat disturbance: 3. Monitoring relocated or displaced animals

Do not relocate healthy Grey-tailed Tattlers simply because they are close to work. Prevent the disturbance where possible and allow birds to move naturally.

If an authorised wildlife professional relocates an injured animal, monitor it through the approved rehabilitation and release pathway.

Where work displaces a roosting flock, monitor the original roost and nearby alternative roosts during subsequent high tides.

  • Record the release site and confirm that it contains suitable feeding, roosting and escape habitat.
  • Check whether birds return to the original site after the disturbance ends.
  • Investigate ongoing absence, repeated flushing or use of unsuitable habitat.
  • Increase controls if birds continue to avoid the site or are repeatedly disturbed.

After habitat disturbance: 4. Incident review

Review every stop work event, injury, mortality, roost disturbance and unplanned habitat impact with the supervisor, fauna spotter catcher and project ecologist.

Focus on what allowed the incident to occur and what will prevent a repeat.

  • Check whether the survey timing, tide, buffer, induction, signage, lighting or communication was adequate.
  • Change the work sequence or exclusion zone before the next activity.
  • Share lessons with all crews, subcontractors and supervisors.
  • Update the fauna management plan and approval records where required.

Rehabilitation actions: 1. Restore shorebird habitat

Restore feeding and roosting function, not only vegetation cover. Rehabilitation should reconnect intertidal habitat with safe high tide shelter and should be maintained for the life of the project.

Reinstate natural tidal flows, drainage, mudflat contours and shoreline structure where these have been altered.

Retain or restore open sightlines around roosts. Avoid dense plantings, tall structures and stockpiles that block views of approaching predators.

Use local materials and methods suited to the estuary, rocky shore, mudflat, mangrove, saltmarsh or claypan setting.

  • Remove temporary fill, fencing, lighting and machinery from habitat as soon as they are no longer needed.
  • Stabilise disturbed ground without covering intertidal feeding habitat with unsuitable material.
  • Prevent sediment, hydrocarbons, concrete washout and rubbish from entering tidal areas.
  • Restore access between feeding areas and roosts where construction has created barriers.

Rehabilitation actions: 2. Mangroves, saltmarsh and weeds

Protect retained mangroves, saltmarsh and shoreline vegetation used for roosting or shelter. Replace damaged habitat with vegetation appropriate to the local tidal position.

Control weeds before they form dense cover around open roosting areas or alter drainage.

Use a staged weed program so that control works do not disturb birds at high tide.

  • Use local provenance plants where revegetation is required.
  • Keep machinery out of soft intertidal substrates unless authorised.
  • Inspect restored areas after high tides, storms and flood events.
  • Remove invasive plants and prevent regrowth through follow-up treatment.

Rehabilitation actions: 3. Water quality and food resources

Protect the benthic communities that support feeding shorebirds. Grey-tailed Tattlers use intertidal mudflats, rocky areas and estuaries, and may feed on benthic invertebrates such as crustaceans, molluscs and polychaete worms.

Manage runoff, turbidity, contaminants and altered tidal exchange during construction and operation.

  • Use sediment and erosion controls before soil disturbance starts.
  • Monitor discharge points and respond to visible plumes, odour, sheens or fish and invertebrate deaths.
  • Keep stormwater outlets, drains and treatment areas from concentrating flows across feeding flats.
  • Investigate reductions in shorebird use alongside water quality or sediment changes.

Rehabilitation actions: 4. Roost structures and artificial habitat

Do not install nest boxes or bat boxes for Grey-tailed Tattlers. This species does not use those structures and normally breeds in alpine and mountain areas outside Australia.

If a roost is lost, replacement habitat should be designed as an open, predator-aware high tide refuge near suitable feeding habitat. Use a qualified shorebird ecologist to set the location and design.

  • Consider elevated, stable sand, gravel, rock or other site-suitable roost surfaces where natural roost habitat cannot be retained.
  • Keep the replacement roost free of regular people, dogs, vehicles and machinery.
  • Provide clear views, suitable drainage and protection from inundation at the intended tide height.
  • Do not rely on an artificial roost until monitoring shows that birds use it consistently.
  • Treat any replacement roost as a project specific mitigation measure requiring approval and long-term maintenance.

Rehabilitation actions: 5. Long-term monitoring

Monitor restored feeding habitat and roosts during the main non-breeding period, roughly October to March, and during high tides when birds concentrate.

Compare bird use, habitat condition and disturbance with the pre-construction baseline.

  • Use consistent vantage points, tide stages and counting methods across monitoring rounds.
  • Record Grey-tailed Tattler numbers, total migratory shorebird numbers, roost occupancy, feeding use, disturbance and habitat condition.
  • Continue monitoring while approval conditions require it and until rehabilitation objectives are met.
  • Use results to control weeds, repair erosion, change lighting, restrict access or improve roost protection.
  • Report declining use, repeated disturbance or failure of replacement habitat to the project ecologist and relevant authorities.

Sources