Ways to Share the Shore this Fourth of July

small least terns hiding under shade on sanibel causeway next to an American flag

Independence Day is approaching. However, it is important that celebrations do not cause damage to coastal birds. “Loud noise and lights on the beachside from fireworks can cause nesting birds…

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Rare Bird Sighting: Long-Billed Curlew

While performing monthly breeding bird surveys, SCCF’s shorebird team was lucky enough to re-sight a long-billed curlew (Numenius americanus) — a rare sighting in Southwest Florida. “Florida records are sporadic…

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Helping Least Tern Chicks Stay Cool

To help protect state-threatened least tern chicks from the South Florida heat, SCCF shorebird biologists are deploying “chick shelters” within the nesting least tern colony along the Sanibel Causeway. Least…

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Look Out for Killdeer Nests

You may know Sanibel’s beaches are home to nesting snowy plovers (Anarhynchus nivosus) and Wilson’s plovers (Anarhynchus wilsonia), but did you know there’s a third plover species that can be…

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Herring Gull from Maine Spotted on Sanibel

The SCCF shorebird team recently encountered a young banded herring gull (Larus smithsonianus) from Great Duck Island, Maine (over 1,400 miles away). The gull, which bore an orange leg band…

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12.1K Birds Spotted During Christmas Bird Count

SCCF volunteers and staff recorded 12,104 individual birds from 100 different species on Sanibel and Captiva last month as part of our islands’ contribution to the National Audubon Society’s 125th Christmas…

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