This Fourth of July Weekend Watch for Nesting Beach Baby Birds!

People are ready to celebrate the July Fourth holiday and have fun on beaches throughout Florida. Remember, we share these beaches with nesting shorebirds and seabirds! Wilson’s Plovers, Least Terns, and Black Skimmers are currently nesting throughout Collier County. What should you look for when hitting the sand? Nest, eggs, and chicks! 

Wilson’s Plovers

Small shorebirds with pale gray backs and thick bills, Wilson’s Plovers in Collier County started nesting first. You may have already seen posted or roped off areas around their nests on Big Marco Pass Critical Wildlife Area (CWA), Dickman’s Point, New Beach, and Morgan Beach. While some of these adults are still incubating their eggs, which they will do for 20 to 25 days, most nests in Collier County have hatched! After hatching, these little chicks can start running around within two hours. With their small size and camouflaged colors, seeing them can be very difficult, so beachgoers should be careful when walking in or near vegetated sand and along shorelines where they forage. 

Least Terns

The Least Terns started nesting next and look like miniature gulls. They chose territories and laid eggs on Second Chance and Big Marco Pass CWA’s. Least Tern nests can be almost impossible to spot, as they nest directly on the dunes and their eggs blend into sand and shells. 

Adult Least Terns dive bomb potential threats - people included - so if you see a Least Tern diving at you, you are probably too close to a nest. The best thing to do in this situation is to look for scraps and nests while carefully backing away. 

While there are still some Least Terns incubating their eggs, most chicks have hatched and have been spotted running around their nest sites and along shorelines, so we should always watch where we are walking and stay clear of posted nesting areas. For example, at the new colony formed on one of the inner shoals off Dickman’s Point, you can see young chicks running around within the posted area and older chicks on the shoreline testing their wings before they fledge. With all this activity, you should be extra careful while out on Dickman’s Point, Caxambas, or the nearby shoals. 

Black Skimmers

Skimmers are often seen in the evening using their large orange and black bills to literally skim prey from the surface of the water. They began laying eggs shortly after Memorial Day and are nesting on Second Chance and Big Marco Pass CWA’s. While most Black Skimmers are still incubating their eggs, the first chicks have been spotted and more are expected to hatch as we get closer to the holiday, so please be sure to give nesting Black Skimmers their space and respect the posted areas by staying outside of them. 

How can we protect them?

With many people planning to spend the holiday weekend out at the beach, it is important to share the shore with the birds. Disturbances during the heat of the day could crush or cook the vulnerable eggs and chicks. Luckily, it is easy to have fun and enjoy the beach without disturbing the birds! Here are some things to do to make our beaches safer for birds:

*Give nesting birds at least 100 feet of distance or as much as possible. Signs or people will alert you to these areas, but some birds haven’t settled down to start nesting yet and may just look like they are resting in the sand.

*Please avoid walking through flocks of birds on the upper beach.  

*If pets are permitted on beaches, keep them leashed and well away from birds.

*Remove trash and food scraps, which attract predators that will also eat birds’ eggs and/or chicks.  

*Do not drive on beach dunes or other nesting areas.