Hi all,
A question has occurred to me with Cyclone Yasi bearing down on Cairns and Townsville. Does anyone know what migratory shorebirds do when Cyclones are on their way? Do they move inland, or try and ride it out at their normal roosts? I’d particularly be interested in any research/papers on the subject, but would also love to hear peoples’ observations if anyone has seen something firsthand.
My own personal experience with this is from Broome. We observed shorebirds during migration season in 2005. In late March a cyclone formed in the Coral Sea, and around the same time birds in Broome stopped migrating. A week later and the cyclone had moved all the way across the top end and hit the Kimberley. It wasn’t til after the wild weather died down that the shorebirds started leaving again. We had 10,000 shorebirds go the day after the cyclone finally fizzled out! So in my mind they clearly can work out when a cyclone is headed their way, but I have no idea what birds directly in the path of a monster like Yasi would do.
Regards, Chris ===============================
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Chris, I don’t think I have seen any replies to this question.
And I can’t tell you about what shorebirds do in cyclones. However, I have observed shorebirds responding to very strong winds when the tail end of a cyclone has an effect in Caloundra, SEQ.
Normally birds choose to roost on intertidal sandbanks in the Pumicestone Passage at Caloundra. Bribie Island is the sand barrier island which protects the mainland between Brisbane and Caloundra to the north. The tip of Bribie island is very narrow for a couple of kms, and has come and gone many times over time. Birds, which wouldn’t normally do so, choose the sheltered sand dunes on Bribie and hunker down amongst the spinifex grasses, looking very uncomfortable indeed. These dunes may be a couple of hundred metres from the shore, and well above the normal tide line. I have also seen them gathering in depressions behind the dunes. I also noticed that they were so concentrated on survival that one can approach them quite closely in such circumstances. They don’t want to fly. I made this observation back in the early 90s.
Cheers,
Jill
Jill Dening Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
26° 51′ 41″S 152° 56′ 00″E
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