Click any of the items below to learn more
- Help Us Protect Shorebirds
- Walk Around Birds
- SCDNR Lineup of Shorebirds
- Respect Signage
- Watch Out for Eggs and Chicks
- Satellite Tagged Red Knots
- Critical Stopovers
- Fuel for Long Migrations
- Long Distances From Breeding Grounds
- Learn More
Help Us Protect Shorebirds
Seabrook Island hosts a wide variety of shorebirds all year long. All of them have seen steep population decreases due to habitat loss, climate change, rising sea levels and human disturbance. You can help by sharing the beach.
Our South Carolina coast provides a critical stop over area for many Threatened or Endangered Shorebirds. To learn more, visit the link below. https://sibirders.com/respect-seabrook-island-shorebirds-and-habitat/
In addition to many images, you will learn why the birds are attracted to Seabrook Island and why this place is so important to their long-term survival.
Walk Around Birds
Walking around flocks of birds allows them to keep feeding and resting instead of using precious energy to fly away.
All shorebirds require substantial energy reserves to survive. Birds here on their journey north to breed need to pack on the fat that will fuel their long flights to their nesting grounds in the Arctic. Birds returning need to restore their reserves. Birds like Piping Plovers that winter here, need fat to survive cold weather. Nesting birds need to have food for chicks.
Most people like to walk at the water’s edge where most shorebirds feed, but folks here on Seabrook Island have learned to look far ahead to watch for feeding shorebirds and leave the shoreline to walk around the flocks.
SCDNR Lineup of Shorebirds
This lineup was shared by South Carolina Department of Natural Resources on their blog, “Coastal Birds in South Carolina”. It shows the diversity of birds, their sizes and shapes. For more information click this link to the blog.
https://www.dnr.sc.gov/wildlife/species/coastalbirds/shorebirds/index.html While on this page, explore the blogs on individual bird species.
Which ones have you seen on our beaches?
Respect Signage
Signs mark a part of the beach that is off-limits to people and pets to keep birds safe. Please follow the beach rules for pets.
A yellow nesting season sign designates an area where birds may nest, and people and dogs need to stay out. In winter, the white signs designate where wintering birds are known to rest. But birds can’t read, please watch for birds anywhere while you are on the beach and walk around. Please do not allow dogs to chase birds. Birds see dogs as a threatening predator even if they are on a leash. The beach from Boardwalk # 1 to Captain Sams Inlet is a protected Critical Habitat for birds & dolphins and No Dog Zone. The Town of Seabrook Island has ordinances that limit where dogs can be on the beach.
https://www.townofseabrookisland.org/beach-rules.html
Watch out for Eggs and Chicks
Shorebirds like the American Oystercatcher make their nest and lay eggs directly on top of the sand. The eggs and chicks are well camouflaged in the sand making them difficult to see.
Wilson’s Plovers and Least Terns, both listed as Threatened in South Carolina have nested on Seabrook Island. Like the American Oystercatchers their eggs and chicks are difficult to see. Oystercatchers have nest here for many years. In 2021, a bird with the red bands marked U5 and his mate successfully raised 2 chicks
Here is the link to that story. https://sibirders.com/welcome-to-american-oystercatcher-chicks-dy-dz Unfortunately, in subsequent year they experienced nest failure due to marauding crows.
Satellite Tagged Red Knots
Many shorebirds breed in the Arctic in June & July. The remote habitat and abundance of insects make it ideal for raising young. Satellite tagged Red Knots carry transmitters that show biologists where nests are located.
The image shows the antenna for the satellite tag extending from this Red Knots back.
Before satellite tags, it was difficult to study nesting Red Knots. Now, biologists know Red Knots from here fly directly from South Carolina to James Bay in northern Canada over 1200 miles in 1-2 days non-stop. There they refuel and then fly into the high Canadian Arctic another 1200+ miles to nest.
Scientists can also locate the nesting areas. At this link, see the paths of three knots banded at the inlet in 2023.
“Satellite Tagged Red Knots Are Headed Back From the High Canadian Arctic” https://sibirders.com/satellite-tagged-red-knots-are-headed-back-from-the-high-canadian-arctic/
Critical Stopovers
Seabrook, Kiawah Islands and Deveaux Bank are critical stopovers for Red Knots & Whimbrel and critical wintering grounds for Piping Plovers.
Stopover sites are special places along a species migration routes where they can find a safe place to rest with adequate food to allow them to refuel or recover. A 2022 study Pelton et al established that Kiawah and Seabrook islands are critical stopover for Red Knots with over 40% of the remaining population utilizing the islands in the spring migratory season.
“Kiawah and Seabrook islands are a critical site for the rufa Red Knot.”
https://www.waderstudygroup.org/article/16431/
Whimbrel fly from northern South America to the Arctic to breed. In 2019, Deveaux Bank, an island just off Seabrook Island in the North Edisto River was found to be a nighttime roost for about 20,000 Whimbrel or about half of the remaining population of Whimbrels.
The link below, “Discovery at Deveaux,” explains this phenomenon in stunning detail.
https://www.birds.cornell.edu/conservation-media/whimbrel-discovery/
Deveaux Bank Receives New Designation as Site of International Importance as described at the following link.
https://sibirders.com/deveaux-bank-receives-new-designation-as-site-of-international-importance/
Fuel for Long Migrations
To fuel long migrations, shorebirds feed on clams, worms, crabs and horseshoe crab eggs buried in the sand or mud. Here, an endangered Great Lakes Piping Plover feeds on a bristle worm.
Piping Plovers are federally endangered on their nesting grounds and threatened here where they winter. Because the bird in the picture has an orange band, we know that it nests in the Great Lakes. in the 1990’s, there were only 12 pairs of Great Lakes Piping Plovers,. Now with extensive management, there are about 80 nesting pairs, better but still dangerously low numbers.
One of the Piping Plovers found on Seabrook Island has a fascinating back story. Learn about how this captive reared bird’s story came to light at the following link.
https://sibirders.com/special-captive-reared-piping-plovers-seen-on-seabrook-island-scs-north-beach/
Long Distance From Breeding Grounds
Some shorebirds migrate very long distances from wintering to breeding grounds. Some Red Knots travel from the southern tip of South America to Arctic Canada. The orange flag tells us that this Red Knot was banded in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina.
Red Knots have one of the longest migrations of any shorebird. one group of Red Knots fly from their wintering grounds at the furthest tip of South America on the mudflats of the Strait of Magellan in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina or Chile. In spring, they fly in one or two jumps up the coast of South America and then across the Caribbean to either Kiawah- Seabrook or to Delaware Bay. From here, they fly to James Bay in northern Ontario, Canada where they refuel and then fly to Arctic nesting grounds on remote islands. The one-way distance is 9000 miles. One bird tracked over several years, has flown 242,000 miles or the equivalent of flying to the moon! Below is a link to the story of one such bird.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B95_(red_knot)
Shorebirds are banded by biologists to identify individuals. When observers see a banded bird, they send the identifying code, location, date & other data to a common database. Hundreds of observations when taken together give a picture of where the species travels and a picture of their migration from nesting sites to wintering sites. Band colors and codes differ by species and banding group or country. In the case of Red Knots, band color tells us the country where the bird was banded. Light or dark green is United States, white is Canada, blue is Brazil, orange is Argentina, red is Chile.
Learn More
Seabrook Island Birders’ (SIB) motto is Watching, Learning, Protecting. The organization created the SIB Shorebird stewards with the support of the South Carolina Department of South Carolina. The Town of Seabrook and the Seabrook Island Property Owners Association are strong advocates for wildlife conservation. SC Audubon offers educational support.