Searching For Habitat

For the second season post-Hideaway's continual dredge project, zero Black Skimmers or Least Terns hatched any young on the Sand Dollar Critical Wildlife Area. Very small numbers even showed up to nest. FWC increased their efforts using decoys to attract them, implementing predation management, and providing educational outreach with Audubon Florida. With massive changes to their habitat, especially allowing boaters to now fully enter the lagoon down south, there has been increased harassment, dogs (not allowed), trash, and illegal fires. Shorebirds are very sensitive to both changes in their habitat and the surrounding human influences. 6.4 acres of their north tip habitat were removed, and erosion pushed their open nesting areas into the vegetation. When birds fly over and stage in areas, it helps them decide where it is best to nest. They check out the sand, vegetation levels, elevation during high tides, predators, and potential threats. The "replacement" nesting habitat down south continues to erode and breach into the lagoon and is not suitable to nest. This area is also closer to inland predators which could be one reason why they historically chose the north tip. Too small of a colony doesn't provide enough birds to fight off predators such as crows, which ultimately contributed to the handful of nests failing. In years past, the large colonies were loud and proud. Today, the Sand Dollar north tip is silent as the colony has abandoned the site. 

Although it has been stated they can just find another place to nest, the colony of up to 600 pairs of Black Skimmers on Sand Dollar was an iconic site to see. It made Marco Island such a unique place. People traveled from all over the world to walk from Tigertail Beach all the way to the tip to view the hundreds of chicks hatching. As I surveyed this summer, I had many people ask me what happened and where are the birds? Shorebirds are losing habitat worldwide. Finding alternative places to nest is not easy, especially for a colony of that size. The 10 Thousand Islands consist of mostly mangroves thus providing very limited areas to nest. Sand Dollar was one of the most successful nesting sites in the state of Florida, hosting hundreds of Black Skimmers and Least Terns.

The only other two locations in Collier County with suitable nesting habitats are the areas of Caxambas and Second Chance otherwise known as Shell Island. Since Caxambas moved out of the critical wildlife area boundary, our AWE staff along with other agencies put in extra effort educating the public. Allowing people to land on a small island within close proximity to nesting birds can cause constant harassment during the heat of the day putting eggs and chicks in danger. We appreciate the eco-tour groups that chose other sandbars to take their guests. The risks of nesting on these two barrier islands are they are very isolated and they are smaller islands in the middle of the Gulf. In an instant, they can change with a higher tide or just a small storm. They have limited vegetation for stability. 

Very late in the summer, the Black Skimmers split up and decided to nest on both of these locations. The delay in choosing where to nest can lead to facing more storms that can wipe out eggs and chicks. As tropical storm Debby skimmed past our coast, these isolated islands were completely overwashed. Nests and small chicks were destroyed. Earlier clutches did fledge but this season's hatch and fledge numbers were way lower than historic numbers. With over 500 black skimmers only fledging at most 125 chicks in Collier County, this only contributes to the species' decline. It is important to remember these islands could be underwater in a very short time. Next year, Second Chance could be an entirely different shape not large enough to host both their typical large Least Tern colony and the Black Skimmers. Caxambas could also change with word of another potential dredge project within the nearby channel. Preserving shorebird habitat is critical as numbers are declining worldwide. Please continue to spread the word to give birds space during the nesting season and incoming migration. Birds are already traveling hundreds of miles to our area now that they are done nesting up north. Many are exhausted from storms disrupting their travels. If you are interested in helping with bird stewardship and surveys, email us at audubonwe@live.com!