The VWSG monitors both migrant and resident species. Research objectives includes:
- Population monitoring (by counting and catching)
- Determination of migration routes, stopover locations and destinations
- Biometrics of species and subpopulations
- Weight changes associated with migration
- Primary moult duration and mode
- Survival rates
- Reproductive rates
- Behavioural differences between adult and immature birds
- Determination of age when species first breed
Results from the VWSG activities are reported annually in their Bulletin .
What are waders?
Waders, also known as shorebirds, include all those birds that use the water's edge for feeding. This generally involves utilising the mudflats that are exposed as water recedes (either by tide in marine environments or evaporation in fresh water bodies). These habitats are under significant threat around the state of Victoria, and the world.
Waders range from the tiny Red-necked Stint (weighing less than 30gms) up to the large Eastern Curlew (a robust 600gm building to well over a kilogram when fuelled up for migration flight).
Most of the migratory waders that spend part of their life in Australia breed in the arctic and travel here to avoid the northern winter. This requires access to refuelling grounds along the way. A critical part of the VWSG's work has been to contribute valuable data that has led to a greater understanding of where these habitats are and srengthened arguments for saving them.
Some examples of waders are shown in the picture gallery .
Catching waders The VWSG mostly uses a technique called
cannon-netting to catch waders for various scientific research projects (approved by the Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme - ABBBS). It also
uses a technique called mist-netting for species such as Latham's Snipe. What is cannon-netting?
Cannon-netting is a technique that has been used for over 35 years to catch waders (and other birds) as part of the many research programs conducted across many countries.
As the name implies, this is a process that uses small cannons that shoot projectiles, attached to a net, out over birds standing on the ground in front of the net.
Some of the steps in how it works include:
There are strict protocols in place to ensure the safety of the birds remains paramount. ©Copyright Clive Miinton What is mist-netting?
Mist-netting is a long-standing research technique for catching many bird and bat species.
It involves tying up a fine net between poles that can be set near a flight path of the birds. The net has loose flaps in it that catch the birds after they fly into the net and then fall into the flaps. The net is so fine it is difficult for the birds to see.
Waders have such good vision they won't get caught in a mist net in the daylight (unlike many of the bushbirds), so waders get caught at night as they move between feeding and roosting sites.
Birds are only removed from the nets by experienced and licensed banders. Catching Totals - Cannon and Mist Netting
A total of 37 species have been caught
and banded by the VWSG from 1975-2008, with 43,502 retraps and 219,053 total individual birds.
For details of annual banding totals please click here for annual totals. and click here for species totals. What is Banding? Small metal rings that are labelled with a unique number are placed on the leg of the bird to enable any recovery or recapture of the bird to be traced back to the time it was initially caught. From this, data on movements, age and survival rates can be determined. What is a Leg Flag? A flag is a coloured plastic leg band with a small extension that can be seen through binoculars or scopes at a distance. Over the past 14 years, flag development has continually advanced, with the most recent changes being new alphanumeric labels on the flags that reduce the need for multiple leg bands when trying to identify individual birds. What is Processing? A bird is processed when its biometrics, or body measurements are taken. This happens when the birds are caught for banding, although depending on the purpose of the study and the time available to handle the birds, not all measurements are taken for every bird.
Various measurements taken include:
Bill length
Head and bill length
Wing length
Weight
Stage of moult What is a Recovery? A recovery is when another bander recaptures a banded bird or when a banded bird is found dead, locally or at another location.
What generally happens in these cases is that the metal band number is reported to the Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme in Canberra, or to the bander. What is Twinkling?
'Twinkling' refers to the process of gently encouraging birds to move into the catching area in front of the net.
This can take many forms, from:
Leg-flagged Waders from
Victoria An orange plastic leg-flag has been
placed on the right tibia of most migrant and some resident waders banded in Victoria
since 1990. This has led to a significant increase in the rate at which data has
been generated on migration routes and key stopover regions in the flyway. Lists of
sightings of orange flagged birds away from the banding areas have been published in past
VWSG Bulletins (and in the AWSG bulletin, The Stilt). For more information on the numbers of
orange leg flags and what species orange leg flags have been placed on, and in what years
click here. If you sight an orange (or any other
colour) leg-flagged wader away from the main
banding locations please contact Clive Minton. The sightings received during the last year away from the flagging locations in Australia and overseas are illustrated in this Table. Tern banding Tern studies have been an integral part
of the VWSG's activities since the group's early days, even though the group's name does
not include them. The official approved Banding Project does however mention waders
and tern equally. Some terns have also been orange leg-flagged, and even Little
Terns have been individually leg-flagged with various colour combinations involving three
flags. Crested Tern chicks on Mud Island have had ABBBS metal bands powdercoated
different colours for different years. For more information on the VWSG's
involvement with Crested Terns banded on Mud Island click here.
©Copyright Clive Minton Pied Oystercatcher studies The Pied Oystercatcher population of
Australia is only about 10,000 individuals with 1,500 in Victoria. The VWSG have
been conducting a study of Pied Oystercatchers in Victoria since early 1979.
Oystercatchers have been banded at various locations in Port Phillip Bay, Western Port and
the Corner Inlet complex (click here for more details on locations and numbers of
Oystercatchers banded by the VWSG). The banding system involves individual
birds having two colour bands placed above a metal ABBBS band on one leg, and three colour
bands placed on the other leg as a unique combination, allowing individual birds to be
identified in the field. If you sight a banded Oystercatcher away from the main
banding locations please contact Roz Jessop. 
