Colonial Waterbird Populations and Management on Florida’s Gulf of Mexico Coast

Authors

• Ann Hodgson, President of Resource Designs, Inc.
• Ann F. Paul, Florida Coastal Islands Sanctuaries Program

Date of this Version

9-2011

Document Type

Article

Citation

Presented at 2011 Bird Strike North America Conference, September 12-15, 2011, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.

Comments

Copyright 2011 Ann Hodgson

Abstract

Study Area - Florida’s Gulf of Mexico Coast – ~200 miles Levy County to Charlotte County & N. Lee County

Audubon’s Florida Coastal Islands Sanctuaries Colonial Waterbird Management Program

Annual Program Activities

• Nesting protection: spring & summer nesting season - Posting, planning, coordination
• Comprehensive colony protection & project management, habitat restoration projects – throughout year
• Conservation and policy initiatives – throughout year
• Survey data allow tracking population trends

Brief history of the colony survey program

• Management program since 1930s, focused on a few colonies
• Sporadic surveys before 1980s
• No coherent regional survey
• First comprehensive survey in Tampa Bay 1984-1985
• Found 22 active bird colonies – at least 11 of which have winked out because they were disrupted or abandoned
• ~59,000 pairs on 5 colonies that no longer support large populations:

1. Fantasy Island 15,000
2. Port Manatee Key 4,000
3. Bayway Spoil 30,000
4. Tarpon Key 2,000
5. Passage Key 7,500

• Birds moved to other colony locations
• Survey area increased in 1990s, found more colonies and added them to the survey schedule
• Widened survey area to more counties, higher level of effort, more partners

Program emphasis on colonial waterbirds – messengers for conservation, indicators of ecological integrity, charismatic wildlife of Florida

Nomadism vs. migration

• Regional waterbird populations are not migratory; instead, they are nomadic – centered on nesting colonies during the nesting season, and searching for forage the rest of the year
• Least terns, most shorebirds – migrate annually
• White pelicans – breeding adults migrate, non-breeding young birds may over-winter

What do waterbirds need to complete the cycle?

• Food – the right forage – aquatic and terrestrial macro-invertebrates (larvae & adults) •& SMALL fish
• Water – quantity and quality; young may need or benefit from freshwater, even though adults are estuarine nesters
• Cover – for nesting, hiding, & foraging
• Space – Home range – generally not defended by waders Territory – defended nest site

And, for successful nesting – birds need no disturbance, no predators