Clemens, R.S., Kendall, B.E., Guillet, J. & Fuller, R.A. 2012. Review of Australian shorebird survey data, with notes on their suitability for comprehensive population trend analysis. Stilt, 62, 3-17.
Shorebirds are one of the most well-monitored taxa in Australia. In this paper, we review the spatial and temporal coverage of the Australian shorebird monitoring count data currently administered by BirdLife Australia, and comment on the subset of those data likely to be of immediate use for comprehensive trend analysis. Of the 253 shorebird areas known in Australia seventeen in the southern half of Australia had consistent survey coverage over the last 30 years, with summer counts available in over 80% of those years, and with each area holding nationally significant numbers of some shorebird species. Similarly consistent data were available for eight additional shorebird areas, but these generally held fewer birds. Another 21 shorebird areas with nationally important numbers of shorebirds had 15 to 30 years of data with some variation in spatial coverage or changes in methods over time. Our review suggests that Australian shorebird monitoring data are of sufficiently high quality and spatial coverage to permit robust analysis of shorebird population trends across much of Australia.