Threatened Bird Family Makes Anna Maria Island Home...
As reported in the Anna Maria Island Sun... By Cindy Lane, sun staff writter.
A snowy plover, a threatened species, guards its nest on a sandspur plant on Anna Maria Island. She and
her mate are one of only 45 pairs of snowy plovers on Florida’s southwest coas.
They hatched two chicks in April.
Newly Hatched Snowy Plover Chicks
Two threatened snowy plover chicks, newly hatched on Anna Maria Island, have more than just their parents watching out for them – and they need every friend they can get.
The snowy plover parents are one pair of a bird species whose nesting season begins in early February, and listed as threatened in the state, one notch under endangered.
Least terns, also threatened, and black skimmers, a species of special concern, began nesting in early April on the Island.
Rare Florida Sight
"The is one of the rarest sights in Florida," whispers Nancy Douglass, a regional non-game wildlife biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, as she stakes out the nesting area to keep people away.
A bird lover has already made a fence of sticks and rocks around the nest to alert people to avoid the area, but the fence is far too small, she says, and may actually alert predators to the nest. The birds need more space between them and people because once spooked, the parents do not return to hatch their eggs, and after hatching, the chicks can easily be trampled by beachgoers.
Life is not easy for these tiny birds, which blend into the sand so well you can’t see them unless they move.
They nest right on the ground - in this case, on a sandspur plant, possibly a defense mechanism – and must contend not only with people, but with predators of their own kind, especially black crows, seagulls and herons.
Plover Defense Ploy for Survival of the Species
As Douglass stakes out the area, a pair of great blue herons swoops down, casting a large shadow over the nest. The parents immediately put a classic plover ploy into action.
One races away from the nest on foot towards the Gulf of Mexico to lure a heron away, its parental instinct overcoming its survival instinct as it ventures from relative safety among the sea oats to vulnerability on the open beach.
Douglass stands by, prepared to jump in and scare the herons. Herons have to eat, too, but after all, they aren’t threatened, and they aren’t babies.
Going the opposite direction, the other parent is staging an Oscar-winning performance.
Pretending to have a broken wing, it drags itself along the sand away from the nest, stopping every so often to flail around as if in distress, an exhibition sure to catch the eye of the hungry heron.
The team effort works. The herons fly away without eating either chicks or parents.
"It takes so much energy for the parents to do that," Douglass says, adding that they’re already tired from hatching the chicks and finding food.
So anything people can do to make it easier on the birds is much appreciated.
How to Help Save the Snowy Plover
Lots of people are watching out for birds’ nests on the beaches around Anna Maria Island.
Sometimes it’s hard, searching for sandy areas that have been scratched, or eggs that blend in with the sand. Sometimes it’s easy, when the birds "poop and swoop" on people who get too close to the nests.
Birdwatchers from the Audubon Society and volunteers from the Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch also look for bird nests, helping to stake them out, since Douglass’ office has only two people to cover 13 counties.
The beach raker has been notified to stop temporarily to avoid accidentally running over nests and hatchlings.
Most importantly, people should steer clear of the posted areas and avoid chasing the birds that venture outside the nesting areas, or risk violating state and federal laws, she says.
And please report any problems, she requests, adding that two years ago, vandals removed the twine roping off the nesting area, entangling two black skimmers that later died. A different material is being used to reduce the possibility of tampering.
To report nesting activity or problems at nesting sites, call Douglass at 863-648-3200 or email her at shorebird@myfwc.com.
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