Spring Migration Brings New Life to Florida’s Beaches

Now, as spring comes full force, birds are at it again, traveling north to their summertime breeding and feeding habitats. The Bay County Audubon Society in Florida is educating fishers and other beachgoers. In short, they want folks to be aware of our nesting coastal birds, particularly dotting the coast along the Florida Panhandle — as this is where our state hosts the largest populations of nesting Snowy Plovers.

Cornell University’s Ornithology Lab is now hosting the BirdCast Migration Dashboard. This extremely valuable tool provides daily real-time, radar-based summaries of nocturnal bird migration. Through this new dashboard, users can monitor the birds’ nationwide migration progress in real time. It allows them to see how many birds were flying over their county the night before. On peak migration nights, estimates suggest that nearly 450 to 500 million birds may be in the air at once. Andrew Farnsworth, a Cornell University migration ecologist, gives us these stats to get excited about.

Beachgoers should keep in mind that they will no longer be the only ones on the shore during this period. An unexpected and lethal consequence of this is that many coastal birds are now nesting directly on the sand. The Bay County Audubon Society is working to provide a safe habitat for these vulnerable nesting birds. Breeding grounds conservation is critical to the future of these sensitive species.

“The beaches in the Florida Panhandle host the highest numbers of nesting Snowy Plovers in the state, which is why it’s critical we work together to share the shore,” – Collette Lauzau, Panhandle shorebird program manager at Audubon Florida.

Using data from the BirdCast Migration Dashboard, citizens can interact with this extraordinary, real-time phenomenon of migration to learn more and get involved. This information is simple for beach visitors to find. With it, they can better time their trips to experience the most exciting times and places for bird activity.

Especially during nesting season, as the public enjoys these beautiful beaches, it’s important that visitors help protect these nesting areas of our coastal birds. The Bay County Audubon Society reminds birders to always provide these birds a wide berth. This assists them in raising their progeny to fledglings successfully.