Threatened and Endangered Shorebirds Begin Nesting Season on Connecticut Beaches

Might has been an enormous month for Connecticut’s shorebirds—and the individuals who monitor and shield them! On seashores throughout the state, American Oystercatchers and Piping Plovers are already nesting, whereas Widespread Terns and Least Terns have solely simply arrived and begun forming colonies.

Our volunteers and workers have been arduous at work, gathering essential conservation information, talking with beachgoers, and establishing predator exclosures round nests. This 12 months, volunteers are performing monitoring at 13 completely different coastal websites throughout the state of Connecticut, from Compo Seashore in Westport to the Bluff Level Pure Space Protect in Groton.

Already, they’ve reported Piping Plover nests at 5 of those websites, and American Oystercatcher nests at 4 of them. People and pairs of every species have been reported at much more websites, and extra nests are positive to be reported quickly.

“We count on the primary few nests will probably be hatching quickly,” says Corrie Folsom-O’Keefe, director of chicken conservation for Audubon Connecticut. “Over the following few months, it is very important take steps when visiting seashores to assist these birds keep secure. In the event you see symbolic fencing, there are nests and sure chicks on the seashore.”

“Do not forget that plover, tern, and oystercatcher chicks are semi-precocial, which implies they’re cellular inside hours of nesting and can enterprise out of the fencing, right down to the waterline, to forage,” she provides.

Previous to hatching, Piping Plover nests particularly are additionally at excessive danger of predation. To fight that, our skilled workers arrange predator exclosures, as pictured above. These buildings preserve out predators whereas permitting adults and chicks to return and go as wanted. 

“One of many main causes that we usually have a great productiveness price in Connecticut is that the sector workers are carefully monitoring nests and dealing collectively, below the supervision of our state biologists, to get exclosures round nests as quickly as a full clutch is laid,” says Folsom-O’Keefe.

Grownup Least Terns and Widespread Terns have additionally been noticed at and round our seashores. Whereas Widespread Terns often nest on offshore islands, we’re anticipating to see Least Tern nesting colonies forming on our seashores within the coming weeks.

“Steps you possibly can take to make sure these birds are in a position to elevate their younger embrace not bringing canines to the seashore, because the birds see them as predators, finishing up your rubbish, and giving adults and chicks loads of area to relaxation and forage,” advises Folsom-O’Keefe. 

Thanks to our unbelievable crew of workers and volunteers for a fantastic begin to a busy shorebird season! For extra info on our coastal stewardship work in Connecticut, visit our website.