Sharing the Beach With Our Migratory Feathered Friends

Walking on the Wild Side – last week on my weekly hike to the tip of Sand Dollar Island I was greeted by a rare sight of eight roseate spoonbills. It was just after the second mangrove clearing from the sign of Big Marco Pass. First, I heard their grunting sound as they feed on the shallows of Tigertail Lagoon. They looked all pink and gorgeous even from a distance. They swing their heads from side to side as they sift through the muck with their wide flat bills.

According to Brittany Piersma, biologist for Audubon of the Western Everglades (AWE), they are year-round residents in Florida and when done nesting in the other parts of the State, they will winter in larger flocks in our area.

On that same morning, a Reddish Egret was having fun dancing for her breakfast by the low tide. Reddish Egrets wait patiently still for their prey then all of a sudden, they spread their wings, prance, flutter, sprint back and forth like a crazy maniac bird while stabbing the water with their pink dagger bill.

Most mornings, you will see a Reddish Egret between Residents Beach and JW Marriott dancing for its breakfast.

Our migratory feather friends have arrived – these are species that generally migrate south each fall from their breeding grounds to their wintering grounds. All migratory birds are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1916. 

Red Knots are robin size shorebirds weighing under 0.4 pounds with small eyes, thin black legs, and a short black bill. They have an incredible story to tell with their incredible migration journey to Marco Island from their tundra home of the Arctic Cordillera region.

Red Knots undertake a winter journey across the North Pole, to the tidal flats in Tierra Del Fuego, South America (about 9,000 miles one way). Enroute, they stop in places like Marco Island beaches to rest, feed and gain weight to complete that journey - and some may stay.

I have seen a small group of them off Residents Beach. They look thin when they arrive so let’s make sure to respect them from a distance and NOT flush them.

American Avocets are from the Western US and Canada and are a long-legged shorebird. It has an eye-catching long thin bill that curves upward. You can’t miss its distinctive black and white striped pattern on its back and sides.

American Oyster Catcher is a shorebird with a bold pattern, yellow eyes with a distinct red eye ring and a vivid long reddish-orange bill. I saw a small group of them sitting in shallow scrapes in the sand. They do breed in Florida, but we get migrants from western United States and Canada.

Piping Plover is so tiny, weighing less than two ounces, yet they manage to find their way to our beaches. Piping Plover # 223 just flew into Marco this week where he was hatched in Ontario. He was also sighted here last year!

Royal Terns are a year-round resident of our beaches and often in the company of the black skimmers, gulls, and other terns. They live up to their regal name with their ragged ink-black crest against a white plumage and tangerine-orange colored bill. 

Most of our migrant friends congregate by the wrack line where they find a mixture of seaweed along the high tide line. These clumps of dried plant materials offer an array of delicious snacks for our migratory shorebirds.

Etiquette Around Migratory Birds:  Beaches and tidal areas are important to all our wildlife but during winter migration, we have birds resting and feeding in these sandy places.

• No dogs on the beach.
• Keep your beach clean plastic free. 
• Don’t feed the birds.
• Keep an eye on children and please do not flush the birds.
• Discard fishing lines appropriately – birds can get entangled.
• Walk or run around flocks of resting birds.