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Tiny bird a seasoned world traveller

The Burnett Mary region has achieved another Australian first.

A tiny shorebird called a Red-necked stint which was tagged in Shanghai, China, was recorded last month at Norval Park, north of Bundaberg – the first ever sighting in Australia of a tagged bird from that area.

The bird, scarcely bigger than a budgerigar, had flown more than 7000km to be spotted by avid bird watcher Trevor Quested.

The stint was feeding with three other birds last month when Mr Quested and his wife Annie spotted the bird with its tag and took a photo before continuing their bird watching.

“I didn’t understand what I was looking at, at the time,” he said.

 “I sent the photo to the Australian Wader Study Group and they were delighted, because it is the first-ever sighting in Australia of a bird that was banded in Shanghai.”

The bird was banded at Chongming Dao, in the mouth of the Yangtze River, and Mr Quested spotted it 7014km from that marking location.

The bird species regularly comes to nest in the Bundaberg region and other Australian locations, usually between September and March, but some stay in Australia for the winter months.

“We’ve got all these marvellous wetlands around our coastline and, so long as we look after them, the birds will continue to come here,” Mr Quested said.

Weighing only about 30g when they arrive in Australia, the birds eat for most of the summer to get their strength back before heading north again.

Business Development & Planning Manager for the Burnett Mary Regional Group, Sue Sargent, said this made shorebirds vulnerable to disturbance.

“These birds must feed while they are in Australia, so that they can make the long flight back to their breeding grounds,” she said.

“It is critical that people keep well away from birds, especially when walking dogs and driving 4WDs.”

The sighting follows another recent discovery by the Australian Waders Study Group after fitting tiny geolocators to Ruddy Turnstones, another species of shorebird.

They confirmed that 4 of the birds flew non-stop from Victoria to Taiwan in just over six days, covering 7600km, and cruised at an average speed of 50-55km/h.