Breeding Bird Protocol Overview Monitors conducting a count at Huguenot Memorial Park. Photo by Chris Burney. Monitoring shorebirds and seabirds

Outline What Am I Monitoring? – Focal species What is the Breeding Bird Protocol – Why is the protocol important? – Monitoring Rooftops – Establishing Routes – Monitoring colonies and nest sites along routes

What Am I Monitoring? Solitary Nesting Shorebirds Colonial Nesting Seabirds

Solitary-Nesting Shorebirds Wilson’s Plover American Oystercatcher Eastern Willet Photo by Mia McPhersonPhoto by Jack Rogers

Solitary Nesting Shorebirds Nest is a “scrape” in the sand Nests & chicks cryptic – challenge to find in the field Birds exhibit specific behaviors, like broken wing displays that help observers find nests Nest on beaches, spoil islands, oyster bars, and gravel rooftops Photo by Alex Kropp

Colonial-Nesting Seabirds Photo by Jack Rogers Least TernBlack Skimmer Photo by Jack Rogers Photo by Alex Kropp Least Tern incubating eggs inside nest “scrape”

Colonial Nesting Seabirds Nest in colonies together up to 100s of nests. Few ground colonies reported south of St. Johns County. Mostly nest on rooftops.

Colonial Nesting Seabirds

The Breeding Bird Protocol

Why a Monitoring Protocol? Essential for collecting meaningful, useful data. Birds must be counted in the same way, and data collected in the same format to create meaningful statewide summaries.

Conduct a Count during each “Count Window” March April May June July 8-14 August 5-11 * Also, Monitor Colonies Weekly, April-June

Rooftop Protocol Do not go on the roof Conduct counts from the ground Fill out a data sheet even if you don’t see birds.

Data Sheet for Rooftops (top) Motel 6 Cocoa Beach Naomi AvissarHeather Hitt Least Tern120P

Data Sheet for Rooftops (bottom) Motel 6 Joe Schmo Bldg. Manager m6.com 123 Plover Street Cocoa Beach Chicks falling down drain pipes – put 6 chicks back on roof.

Data Sheet for Rooftops (Optional) Motel 6 Cocoa Beach 6 chicks fell off roof and were returned to roof via chick-a-boom Rooftop needs modification

Monitoring Shorebird Nests and Seabird Colonies Along Routes

What is a Route? A path with a start and end point. Observer monitors all nests and colonies along the route. Routes can be on land or water Local Partnerships determine where to establish routes.

Route Form Sebastian Inlet 1 Jason DePueIma Birder Sebastian Inlet Colony 1SISP WIPL 1 SISP WIPL 3 SISP WIPL SISP AMOY 1

Solitary Nests Along Routes Photo by Kevin Edwards

Solitary Nest Form SISP WIPL 1 Alex Kropp Janell Brush Wilson’s Plover X

Colonies Along Routes Photo by Maxis Gamez

Colonies Along Routes Direct Count: – Count each nest/chick/flight capable juvenile in the colony – Conduct at least 2 counts report the average count – One or multiple observers Estimate Count: – Conduct a Direct Count on a portion of the colony and extrapolate

Colony Form SISP Colony 1 Alex Kropp Janell Brush Least Tern NC

More Information at:

The Protocol in Detail

Summary Minimum expectations: – Familiarize yourself with the protocol (webinars) – Use the data sheets! – Survey nest sites and routes once a month during the 6 count windows (March – August) – Enter data into the website (training videos) Even Better: – Monitor colonies weekly, April-June

Questions? Black skimmer with chicks. Photo by Maxis Gamez

Colonial Nesting Seabirds