Thank You for Your Dedication 

The 2021 shorebird and seabird breeding season has come to an end and the conservation gains are a result of your hard work. Because many of Florida's nesting shorebirds are management-dependent, they need active intervention in order to thrive.  Each breeding season, an army of well-orchestrated stewards, rooftop monitors, route surveyors, biologists, and law enforcement officers make it possible for shorebirds to successfully raise a new generation. Once again this season, FSA partners met new challenges with grit and grace to ensure a best-case breeding scenario for some of Florida's most charismatic coastal inhabitants.   

To all of the volunteers, land managers, interns, students, officers, shorebird staff, partnership coordinators and many others - THANK YOU -  for your ongoing dedication to raising another generation of Florida's beach-nesting birds. The vast network of the Florida Shorebird Alliance makes shorebird and seabird breeding success possible and highlights the ongoing need for partnership-driven conservation. Your dedication is priceless and greatly appreciated!

The FSD closes for the season on October 1!

It's the end of another breeding season and time to enter your monitoring data before the FSD closes on October 1. It's also a good time to double-check the data you entered. Every observation contributes valuable information about breeding shorebirds and seabirds – even if the observations occurred outside a count window.

Here’s a quick checklist of things to look for:

Are the site locations correct?

Check to make sure the sites are not located in the water or in heavily vegetated areas. If the location is correct but the image is old, please add a comment confirming that the location is correct.

Do all of the sites have a Final Outcome?

If the final visit to any site (solitary nest, ground colony, or rooftop) is ‘Active’, be sure to enter another visit that indicates the site’s final outcome.

Remember: for solitary sites, the nesting outcome ‘Complete’ means that the eggs hatched. If there isn’t a roving chick record to confirm that the nest hatched, please include a comment detailing the evidence that led you to mark the nest as complete. If chicks are never observed and there was no evidence to confirm a successful hatch, mark the nest as ‘No chicks left the nest’ or ‘I don’t know the outcome of this site.’

Are your count types correct?

Remember: for colony and rooftop sites, if you could see the entire colony or rooftop, your count type is probably Direct. If you couldn’t see the entire colony or rooftop and you had to do a little bit of math to calculate the count, your count type was an Estimate count. If you’re unsure, you can consult our handy Quick Guide to Count Types. 

Are there any other typos?

Look for duplicate entries, counts that seem out of place, or any other possible typos in the data.

Thank you for another dedicated season of shorebird monitoring! Please email FLShorebirdDatabase@MYFWC.com for support.

In Case You Missed It

Three animated videos to support partner-led disturbance reduction outreach efforts are now available! Each video is in English and Spanish and follows a family demonstrating ways to be a good shorebird neighbor. The videos are available to all shorebird conservation partners to use in outreach efforts. To embed the videos on your website and social media, request the original files by emailing shorebird@myfwc.com or Debra_Reynolds@fws.gov.

Watch and share the videos:

• Human Disturbance in English
• Human Disturbance in Spanish
• Disturbance to Migrants in English
• Disturbance to Migrants in Spanish
• Dog Disturbance in English
• Dog Disturbance in Spanish