Monitoring and Management of Rooftops and Overview of Historic rooftop sites on the Treasure Coast
Rooftop Nesting on Tar and Gravel Roofs
Least Tern Colonies in Florida: The trend towards roofs Southeast Florida - 100% on Ground (Downing 1973) Florida Atlantic Coast – 21% on Roofs (Fisk 1978) Southeast Florida – 93% on Roofs (Zambrano et al 2000) Florida Keys – 38% on Roofs (Hovis and Robson 1989) Florida Keys – 100% on Roofs (Zambrano unpublished data 2000)
ROOFTOPS SURVEYED IN 2010 Six species nesting on roofs 32% roofs became unsuitable from active, 221 inactive, 107 unsuitable 16 sites with 2 or more species
ACTIVE ROOFTOPS IN THE TREASURE COAST
Roof tops - Indian River County Lowes #0240,Home Improvement Warehouse th St. Vero Beach –UNSUITABLE Macy's-Indian River Mall Indian River Mall, Rt. 60 Vero Beach Office Depot #380, Vero Beach th St Vero Beach Publix #00284-Vero Beach th Ave Vero Beach - UNSUITABLE th Lane Vero Beach Walgreens-Vero Beach th St Vero Beach Winn-Dixie #2354, Sebastian Sebastian Blvd Sebastian
Roof Tops - St. Lucie County Bayshore Elementary SW Bayshore Blvd. Port St. Lucie Dan McCarthy Middle School Mississippi Avenue Ft. Pierce- UNSUITABLE Fort Pierce Police Department Hayes Road and US1 Ft. Pierce - UNSUITABLE Indian River Community College Virginia Ave. (Bldg W) Ft. Pierce Northport Middle School NW Floresta Pt. St. Lucie
Roof Tops - St. Lucie County Orange Blossom Mall Okeechobee Rd. Ft. Pierce Parkway Elementary NW Selvitz Rd. Port St. Lucie - UNSUITABLE St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant South A1A Jensen Beach- UNSUITABLE
Behind Treasure Coast Plaza Hillcrest Ave Stuart Heritage Inn- Hobe Sound S.E. Federal Highway Hobe Sound- UNSUITABLE Publix SE Federal Highway SE Federal Highway Stuart Stuart Fine Foods S.E. Ocean Blvd. Stuart Treasure Coast Plaza SE Lincoln Stuart Wachovia Bank, Stuart E. Ocean Blvd. Stuart Waterblasting Technologies SE Slater Street Stuart Roof tops - Martin County
Non-gravel roof nesting
Monitoring – Flush Counts Count when there is a flushing event Conduct several counts if possible and use the highest count of adults Wait at least 15 minutes if no birds are seen or heard Monitor per FSA count windows
Monitoring – Direct Counts Obtain permission to access adjacent property Conduct direct counts of adults, nests, and/or chicks May require a spotting scope or binoculars Monitor per FSA count windows
Management – Chick fences
Management – Preventive Maintenance of A/C and Roof Repairs
Management – Shade and Shelter
Why Chick Check? Chicks may fall off roofs if there is no raised edge, fencing, or drain screens Volunteers should check for chicks at least 3 times a day Management – Chick Checking
The chick-a-boom ride
Chick corral and 3 rd generation chick-a-boom, (John Hood - Suncoast partnership)
Education Signs available for distribution to willing building owners and managers