The tiny "hoodies", as they are affectionately known, nest up to seven times in a season, laying new eggs every time they lose a clutch of eggs or their chicks die.

An average clutch of three eggs is equivalent to half the bird's body weight, so seven nests in a season is 3 times her own weight in eggs - that's a dedicated mum by any measure.

Perhaps adhering to the adage, "it takes a village to raise a child", one plover mum is getting help raising her newborn chicks at Gunnamatta ocean beach in the Mornington Peninsula National Park.

The three tiny chicks are learning to look after themselves under the watchful eye of volunteers from the Friends of the Hooded Plover and Birds Australia.

It is a precarious existence for the chicks, which must evade dogs, hunting birds and hoards of beachgoers as they make regular runs from their nest in the dunes to forage at the water's edge.

"Plover watch" volunteers have placed small wooden shelters along the beach to give chicks a place to rest out of sight of predatory birds as they dash back and forth.

There are signs warning beachgoers to give the birds and their nesting sites a wide berth.

Even so, it may not be enough to save the hooded plover, a threatened species.

Grainne Maguire of Birds Australia said six chicks from two mothers at Koonya beach were lost when groups of sunbathers sat within signed areas, forcing a group of frightened chicks to hide for more than two hours in the heat.

"The frantic running back and forth of the parents attracted a kestrel to the chicks' location," she said.

"With a growing population and huge pressures placed on these beaches by visitors, hope is growing thin for these birds."

The plight of the plover is not for the faint-hearted twitcher, but there are victories among the tragic tales.

One breeding pair settled at No.16 Beach in Rye for more than 10 years had never seen a chick leave the nest until this summer, despite assiduously mating and laying dozens of eggs over the years. When the dogged pair began breeding again in December volunteers erected signs and shelters and monitored the chicks' movements. Sunbathers were asked to avoid the beach within 100 metres of the chicks.