Protecting a shorebird nesting colony takes a village. Luckily for birds across the Sunshine State, a dozen “villages” are coordinated through the Florida Shorebird Alliance. Established by the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) in 2009, this network of partnerships unifies monitoring and management efforts to ensure important sites within their respective areas are protected for nesting sea and shorebirds.

In the Timucuan Partnership in Northeast Florida, Audubon works in partnership with FWC, the Florida Park Service, the City of Jacksonville, and volunteers to safeguard beach-nesting birds along the coasts of Duval and Nassau counties. By pooling resources and information, we can accomplish more than by working alone.

Chris Farrell, Audubon’s Northeast Florida policy associate, recruits and trains a cadre of volunteers, while Greg Raker, a part-time, seasonal steward hired by Audubon, provides on-the-ground assistance to protect nesting areas within Amelia Island State Park and Little Talbot State Park—two locations that include Critical Wildlife Areas for nesting birds designated by FWC.

FWC regional staff support the partnership in many ways. They provide supplies and signage, assist with posting and stewarding needs at nesting sites, and survey shorebird populations at beach nesting sites and on rooftops.

Florida Park Service staff post the nesting sites, coordinate volunteer stewards, perform nesting site management, provide vehicles for stewards to use, and conduct surveys to track nesting progress. Another Northeast Florida beach-nesting bird site, Huguenot Memorial Park, is managed by the City of Jacksonville. The city provides a park naturalist who posts nesting sites, performs surveys, manages habitat, and, with the help of Duval Audubon Society Board Member Elizabeth Filippelli, coordinates volunteer efforts.

“Volunteer assistance is critical at all nesting sites to reduce any negative interactions between beachgoers and our imperiled birds,” says Farrell. “They educate the public with a positive outlook and enlist beachgoers in our efforts to ensure a safe and productive nesting season.”

Together, this partnership has safeguarded the nesting efforts of Least Terns, Wilson’s Plovers, and American Oystercatchers in the region, and even helped bring Black Skimmers and Gull-billed Terns back to the Nassau Sound area. The partnership also created conditions that led to the only beach-nesting colony of Brown Pelicans on the Atlantic Coast at Huguenot Memorial Park.

Nesting success in these locations would not be possible without our village of partners, including Blair Hayman, Hailey Dedmon, and Isabella Launi (FWC), Allison Conboy and Wade Smith (Florida Park Service), and Patty Haas (Huguenot Memorial Park).

Learn more about the partnership at flshorebirdalliance.org

This article first appeared in the Summer edition of the Naturalist. Click here to read the full magazine.