Shorebird research
Jul 20 2022
Shorebirds – 5 Part Series
Shorebirds roost undisturbed on Roebuck Bay © Ric Else
Annual Cycle of Roebuck Bay Shorebirds
The five part series, written by Broome ornithologist Chris Hassell, is informed by many years of observations and on ground research for the Global Flyway Network (University of Groningen NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research) at Roebuck Bay, Eighty Mile Beach and the Yellow Sea. Chris’ knowledge and passion for shorebirds is palpable in his writing of the series.
- FIRST LEG OF THE JOURNEY »
- YELLOW SEA TO THE BREEDING GROUNDS »
- BREEDING »
- SOUTHWWARD MIGRATION »
- LIFE IN ROEBUCK BAY »
This project has been sponsored by Rangelands NRM with support from the Federal Government Landcare Program in June 2022
Sep 6 2021
Welcome news
Roebuck Bay Working Group continues its outstanding work, with an innovative Science on the Broome Coast series, a popular Mud and Saltwater Short Film Fest, a cool as can be sign on the foreshore of Roebuck Bay and a Coastal Garden book that is creating a positive trend toward endemic gardens in the coastal town of Broome.
Read all our news in the latest Roebuck Bay Working Group e Newsletter »
Jul 26 2020
Poster Competition for Years 3-6
HOME AND AWAY: THE MARVELS OF MIGRATORY SHOREBIRDS POSTER COMPETITION
An invitation for primary school students (grades 3 to 6) to participate in the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation Shorebird Competition (ANSTO) by designing a poster about protecting Roebuck Bay’s shorebirds. Individual or school entries accepted. As well as cash prizes for entrants in the ANSTO competition, you can enter the local competition with the best poster in each grade category receiving a Family pass to a Broome Bird Observatory Mangrove Tour AND winning posters will be framed and displayed at Broome Bird Observatory. Local competition entries close 14th August 2020, with winners announced 1st September 2020. Winning entries will be judged by Broome Bird Observatory Staff.
Instructions for competition:
STEP 1 – Watch Birdlife Australia’s presentation – Home and Away: The Marvels of Migratory Shorebirds and learn about Roebuck Bay’s Shorebirds. Press this link »
STEP 2 – Click the link to find out more about the ANSTO Shorebird Competition and follow the instructions to enter. ENTRIES TO BE MAILED TO ANSTO AND RECEIVED BY 14th August 2020. ****SCAN A COPY OF YOUR POSTER BEFORE MAILING IT TO ANSTO****
Any queries please contact Grace Maglio at gracemagliorbwg@outlook.com
For further instructions on how to enter – see the poster…
Nov 8 2019
Shorebird Quest
Shorebird Quest follows Curtis the Curlew on his perilous breeding migration from Siberia to Roebuck Bay through a fusion of Yawuru Country knowledge, musical theatre, puppetry and original music written by Jaime Jackett. Writer and puppeteer Bernadette Trench-Thiedeman said the show celebrates the biodiversity of Roebuck Bay, bringing life to the creatures that exist in its water and mudflats. Shorebird Quest is a co-creation between Theatre Kimberley, Broome Bird Observatory, Parks and Wildlife Service Yawuru Rangers, Nyamba Buru Yawuru Country Managers, five Broome schools and the community.
Made by Paul Bell (Feral Films) and funded by Rangelands NRM with support from the Federal Government National Landcare Program.
Mar 29 2018
Shorebird Congress Sept 8-9, 2018
Would you like to learn about Roebuck Bay’s remarkable migratory shorebirds and be part of 30th birthday celebrations for the Broome Bird Observatory? Well put aside Sept 8-9, 2018 to hear a series of fascinating presentations put on by the Broome Bird Observatory and Birdlife-Australia. The full list of presenters will be out soon with a brief description of each talk. Register on Broome Bird Observatory website or call direct 08 91935600.
Nov 29 2017
Changing tide for shorebirds
There is a great story on a Question of Balance about the work being undertaken by Chris Hassell, a long term researcher with the Global Flyway Network in Broome to better understand the pressures that face migratory shorebirds on their annual breeding migration. Read the story »
Apr 10 2017
Wing Threads
Amelia Formby started today in a microlight! This awesome zoologist come artist has a dream to follow Broome’s Red Necked Stints from Australia to Siberia in a microlight. With Broome’s migratory shorebirds declining, Amelia wants to draw attention to their predicament and promote urgent action. What an amazing young woman. You can hear Amelia speak about her ambitious project this year in the Science on the Broome Coast series – the date and poster coming soon. Read about it here » 
Sep 27 2016
Remarkable animals in the mudflats
Recognising the intertidal mud ats of Roebuck Bay/Eighty Mile Beach as critical for up to 200,000 wintering migratory shorebirds, Professor Piersma and his team collaborated with DEC (then) to establish research projects to understand these biodiverse wetland wonders. From the research undertaken since 1997, what has been discovered about these invertebrates?
‘The remarkable animals of Roebuck Bay and Eighty Mile Beach’, University of Notre Dame Multipurpose Hall, Thur Oct 6, 6pm.
FREE event, gold coin donations welcome
Sponsored by Inspiring Australia, Rangelands NRM through the Federal Government Landcare Program, Western Australia Government’s State NRM Program, supported by Royalties for Regions, WA Marine Science Institution, Department of Parks and Wildlife and The University of Notre Dame.
The Science on Broome Coast series is put on by Roebuck Bay Working Group and the Yawuru Land and Sea Unit.
Jun 11 2014
Dutch Nobel prize for researcher
Nobel Prize laureate Professor Piersma releasing a satellite tagged migratory shorebird on Roebuck Bay.
Professor Theunis Piersma has won the Dutch Nobel Prize (Spinoza) for his work on migratory shorebirds » Heartiest congratulations from the RBWG. Theunis’ work on Roebuck Bay has been outstanding, not only with migratory shorebirds, but also with the invertebrates in the bay’s mudflats that are the food source that fuels their extraordinary migrations each year.
Theunis is the leading authority on global shorebird and benthic ecology, and being forward thinking, started the Roebuck Bay benthos monitoring program in 1999. This long term monitoring study is still underway today and being carried out by Yawuru Rangers at DPaW and Wardens at the Broome Bird Observatory. Theunis (Team Leader of the Global Flyway Network) employs Chris Hassell, the only on ground researcher focused on Roebuck Bay’s shorebirds and benthos. Theunis is a Professor of Animal Ecology, Head of the Animal Ecology Group, Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies (CEES), book author (Life along lands edge and many more) and supervisor of many doctoral and post-doctoral students. And as you would expect, as well as the Dutch Nobel Prize, Theunis is the recipient of many other illustrious scientific awards – an exemplary example is the internationally acclaimed Luc Hoffmann Medal for Excellence in Science and Conservation, awarded by Wetlands International.
Nov 4 2013
Shorebirds in peril
Broome’s migratory shorebirds are struggling to find food on their annual breeding migration due to industrial developments on their staging grounds on the Yellow Sea. © Jan van de Kam.
Roebuck Bay’s shorebirds are an inspiration for their ability to navigate and fly 10,000kms each year to breed in the Arctic Circle. However their migration is under threat as described in the Weekend Australian by Environment Editor Graham Lloyd. Broome’s shorebird expert Chris Hassell is quoted in the story. To read more about the migration and situation in the Yellow Sea, get hold of the book, Invisible Connections by Jan van der Kam from Broome Bird Observatory and Kimberley Bookshop »
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