Nesting Black Skimmers Prefer Daytona Beach

On Tuesday morning, a pair of the federally and state-protected birds was discovered with an egg in a nest on the beach in front of the Hilton Daytona Beach Oceanfront Resort.

Jennifer Winters, who oversees Volusia County's beach habitat conservation program, suspects it's the same pair of skimmers that nested here the past two years. The county had mounted a concerted effort with 14 wooden decoys to attract the birds to undeveloped dunes in Ponce Inlet, but the birds had other plans. Typically this bird nests in large colonies or groups throughout Florida and many other coastal states from New York to Texas.

The first year the birds nested in a vacant lot at Sun Splash Park in Daytona Beach, Winters said. Since the birds had moved south last year, Winters and a biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Alex Kropp, had hoped to entice them a little farther south this year. Instead, the birds moved more northward, and settled again in Daytona Beach.

Winters is rounding up volunteers to help protect the nest and pass out educational fliers to teach people about the skimmers. Volunteers will be needed for about six weeks. It takes up to 25 days for an egg to hatch and up to another 30 days for a chick to be able to fly on its own. According to David Hartgrove, president of the Halifax River Audubon chapter, black skimmers are not always good parents, and usually use large colonies as a form of protection for the chicks to be sheltered by the sheer numbers of birds in one area.

Environmental Management staff has cordoned off the area around the nest and will be monitoring the situation daily. They also are coordinating with state and federal wildlife officials as required by the county’s federally approved HCP which governs how the county protects sea turtles, piping plovers, nesting shorebirds, and other coastal wildlife and habitat.

Visitors to Volusia County beaches near the nest can expect to observe the parents in the vicinity of the nest, taking turns protecting the egg and skimming the water to feed on fish. If the birds appear agitated, there may be another type of bird preying nearby. People crowding too close also can disturb the birds and delay the incubation time. Onlookers should remember to keep their distance if they visit the nest area.

Resource: Volusia.org. For information about Volusia County’s Habitat Conservation Plan and efforts, visit www.volusiaseaturtles.org.

For updated beach information, please call (386) 239-SURF (7873).

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