Backyard Birding: Sharing the Beach with Shorebirds

By Lee Halasz

Lee Halasz is a native of Australia and is a former conservation professional with the Queensland State Government. He and his family now reside in western Massachusetts, and he volunteered his time with us in 2015. This spring, we feature a series of bird stories Lee wrote to celebrate #birdyear. 

Will you be at the beach this summer? Keep an eye out for breeding shorebirds.

Piping plover and chicks (Credit: Kaiti Titherington/USFWS)

The beach is a fantastic place to be. All year round it is a fun and inspiring element of our landscape, and part of that enjoyment comes from being around distinctive coastal birds.

Most of us only go the beach in summer, when we can enjoy the weather and water to relax and have fun. Summer is also an important time for many shorebirds; it is when they come to Northeast beaches to breed.

The beach is a thin strip of naturally precarious habitat in a dynamic environment. It is subject to the power of waves and wind, and extremes of temperature. Despite these challenges, this is where beach-nesting shorebirds have successfully bred through time.

The increased use of beaches by humans has introduced a new variable. The Northeast becomes home to more people every year, and over time society has become more affluent and gained greater freedom to enjoy coastal areas. These patterns have resulted in greater impacts on coastal environments and coastal wildlife, and consequently we need to take actions to ensure that beaches remain a safe place for shorebirds.

Beachgoers can drastically reduce the breeding success of beach-nesting shorebirds. The eggs and chicks are well camouflaged and can unknowingly be crushed by people walking above the high tide line. Also, if adults are flushed from the nest, chicks and eggs can suffer heat stress without the protective shading offered by the parents, and unattended eggs and chicks can be destroyed and eaten by predators.

There are some great shorebird recovery success stories. In Massachusetts, targeted actions have seen piping plover populations bounce back dramatically in recent decades, and American oystercatcher populations are recovering impressively since returning to the Northeast in the last half century.

American Oystercatcher chicks (Credit: Stephanie Koch/USFWS)

Some of this success is attributable to programs like the Atlantic Flyway Shorebird Initiative that increase the focus on shorebird conservation. For example, many of the contributing partners organize summer beach stewards who raise awareness of nesting shorebirds, educate people about them, monitor nests, and notify authorities if protective action is needed.

How You Can Help

There are things all beachgoers can do to minimize their impact on breeding shorebirds:

• Have a carry-in carry-out policy: Trash left on beaches can attract nest predators.
• Don’t feed gulls: While it may be fun and seems harmless, gulls can eat shorebird eggs and chicks.
• Walk your dog on a leash: Dogs love to chase and catch wildlife, including shorebirds, and just the stress of being chased, especially repeatedly, can lead to eggs and chicks being abandoned.
• Respect wildlife protection signs: Please keep out of posted nesting areas.
• Be aware of wildlife: If birds are calling loudly around you, dive-bombing you, or feigning injury, there are probably nests nearby. Please back away.

Perhaps the most important thing anyone can do is to recognize that shorebirds live and breed on the same beaches that people enjoy.

Summer is coming. Enjoy it, but please enjoy and respect the shorebirds also.

Terns at sunset on Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge (Credit: USFWS)

Protecting endangered species on national wildlife refuges

Happy Endangered Species Day! Our biologists team up every day with people across the Northeast to bring our over 100 protected wildlife and plants closer to recovery. Today we’re bringing you updates on a few projects that are doing just that.

Endangered freshwater mussels in the Clinch and Powell River Watersheds in Virginia (Bottom diagonal row, left to right: Cumberlandian combshell, Oyster mussel. Middle Row: Shiny pigtoe, Birdwing pearlymussel, Cumberland monkeyface. Top row: Rough rabbitsfoot) Credit: USFWS

At the bottom of a river, a rock-like creature extends a single muscular foot from its shell. This creature – capable of filtering through several gallons of water per day – sounds like a sci-fi character but is actually a freshwater mussel. Mussels clean our streams, rivers, and lakes as they feed on small food particles and algae. If you find mussels, you can usually find good water quality. We are working to establish 2-4 new populations of four endangered species of mussel; the club shell, orange-foot pimpleback, spectiaclecase and purple cat’s paw on or near the Ohio River Islands National Wildlife Refuge. Together, with the help of 15 cooperators, the Service has already established 5 new populations of the clubshell mussel and successfully raised 3 different year classes of purple cat’s paw mussel.

A pair of Roseate Terns on Gull Island, NY. Studies in 1975, on Gull Island, reported the hybridization of common terns and roseate terns. Similar crosses have not been documented since. Photo Credit: Sarah Nystrom

If you’ve ever been to Gull Island in New York or traveled along a saltwater coastline, you may have witnessed a Roseate Tern diving headfirst into the water after its prey. Six National Wildlife Refuges, Ecological Services and Coastal Program offices partnered with state agencies and non-governmental organizations are working to protect this Federal and state endangered species. These agencies are reducing the risks from predation, habitat loss, and disturbance to Roseate tern breeding and staging sites across the North Atlantic breeding range.

While adult Karner blue butterflies feed on the nectar of flowering plants, Karner blue caterpillars feed only on the leaves of the wild lupine plant. Credit: Joel Trick/USFWS

 

Karner blue caterpillars work together with ants, providing nectar in exchange for protection against the caterpillar’s natural enemies. 2-3 subpopulations of Karner blue butterflies are being restored on the Great Bay National Wildlife Refuge through habitat restoration, captive rearing and propagating lupine, to save the species from extinction. Funding has already allowed for prescribed habitat burns, the removal of fencing, lupine propagation and the release of 750 butterflies into the wild.

Seabeach amaranth. Photo Credit: Gene Nieminen.

 

Plant species face extinction too! Seabeach amaranth is an annual plant species endemic to the Atlantic Coast from South Carolina to Massachusetts. The species has rapidly declined over the past 13 years from over 200,000 plants to only 1,320 in 2013 – largely due to climate change, sea level rise, development of beach front property and increased beach use. More than 3,800 seeds have been collected from four sites to establish more self-sustaining populations on 6 National Wildlife Refuges in areas less vulnerable to man-made threats.

 

 

These projects are funded by a special initiative in our agency called the Cooperative Recovery Initiative. The initiative was established in 2013 to restore and recover federally listed threatened or endangered species on national wildlife refuges and surrounding lands. It funds on-the-ground conservation projects that provide high conservation benefits.

Through the $6.86 million in CRI funding, the Service is working to recover threatened or endangered species across 27 states on or near national wildlife refuges. The 16 CRI funded projects will benefit a number of other species as well; including piping plover, bull trout and the Yellowstone grizzly.

For more information about Endangered Species Day – May 20, 2016, click here.

For more information about the 2016 Cooperative Recovery Initiative, click here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Climate change and the future of Maine’s wildlife

Today you’re hearing from Bob Houston, a biologist and GIS specialist in our Gulf of Maine Coastal Program. He’s one of the authors of the report, Climate Change and Biodiversity in Maine, released today. The report identifies 168 vulnerable species of fish, plants, birds and other wildlife that could experience large range shifts and population declines in Maine as a result of climate change by 2100.

Photo courtesy of Bob.

What will happen to the animals, plants and habitats for which we work so hard to protect? Will their environment change so much in the coming century that they will face hardships they can’t tolerate?

These and other questions were on my mind as I sat at a table with other scientists to discuss the future of ducks, seabirds, shorebirds and other bird species.

I have been very lucky to be a part of Maine’s Beginning with Habitat team from its early beginnings. The partnership, which includes state and local agencies and non-government organizations, was formed to share important information about plant and animal habitats with towns and land trusts to inform decisions about town planning and open space conservation.

The program has been a great success. But now we wrestled with questions about climate change and sea-level rise: How would it affect the plants and animals that are the focus of the Beginning with Habitat program? What will happen when the temperatures increase, rainfall and snowfall patterns change, non-native pests and plants expand their invasion, and the sea rises?

A sub-team of the partnership was formed to try to answer these questions and investigate the impact of climate change on Maine’s priority plants, animals and habitats. Led by Andrew Whitman of Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences, the team decided to rely on the expert opinion of many scientists throughout Maine and the Northeast.

Sea-level rise may reduce nesting habitat for seabirds, especially tern species like the common tern pictured here. Credit: Amanda Boyd/USFWS

The cold-water habitats of endangered Atlantic salmon are predicted to decline in the region as air temperatures warm and, subsequently, water temperatures increase. Credit: E. Peter Steenstra/USFWS

The Blanding’s turtle is sensitive to declines in water levels, which increases the isolation of wetlands and may affect the turtle’s ability to survive through winters. Credit: Keith Shannon/USFWS

American oystercatchers (pictured) and piping plovers breed in marine habitats that are vulnerable to sea-level rise. Credit: USFWS

Climate change may extensively reduce the red knot’s Arctic breeding habitat and the roosting habitats the knot uses as it migrates south along the eastern U.S. Credit: Greg Breese/USFWS

Canada lynx have evolved to have a competitive edge in deep snow habitats. Without the snow, bobcats may out-compete them. Credit: James Weliver/USFWS

More than 100 scientists contributed their expert knowledge and opinions to the process through an in-depth online survey and an intensive one-day workshop. It was at this one-day workshop that I found myself at a table with other wildlife biologists who have spent their lives researching and conserving all types of birds and their habitats.

As other groups discussed plants, fish, mammals, amphibians and reptiles and invertebrates (such as beetles and dragonflies), our group discussed the future of birds. I quickly found that we had no definite answers. The uncertainties were overwhelming at times.

The Atlantic puffin is already at the southern end of its breeding range. Photographed at Green Lake National Fish Hatchery. Credit: Fred Yost/USFWS

For instance, Atlantic puffins nest on Maine’s coastal islands and feed on herring and other fish in the Gulf of Maine. But they also spend a considerable amount of time outside the Gulf of Maine – in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Labrador Sea and other areas along the Atlantic coast. It is difficult to predict the effects of climate change on their food base in the Gulf of Maine, much less all the other areas that puffins rely on in a typical year.

We discussed these and many other questions that day. In the end, we identified 168 vulnerable species that could experience large range shifts and population declines as a result of climate change in Maine by 2100. They include Atlantic salmon, Blanding’s turtle, least and roseate terns, Atlantic puffin, red knot, saltmarsh sharp-tailed sparrow, American oystercatcher, piping plover, moose and Canada lynx.

The eastern moose may be vulnerable to outbreaks of moose ticks that survive mild winters well and can cause stressful hair loss and increased calf mortality. Credit: David Govatski/USFWS

We found that many of our existing habitat conservation efforts should succeed despite climate change. We also found that we might need new adaptive strategies—ones that put even more emphasis on connected habitats to allow plants and animals to respond to changing climate.

While only time will confirm our assessments, we hope this report will support decisions and actions that ensure a strong future for Maine’s natural heritage.

See the results of the vulnerability assessment.