Habitat Associations of Shoreline-Dependent Birds in Barrier Island Ecosystems During Fall Migration in Lee County, Florida

The tendency to survey shoreline-dependent birds by taxonomic grouping has led to an incomplete picture of avian habitat associations within Floridas Barrier Island ecosystems. Planning for the conservation of Floridas shoreline-dependent birds requires a greater understanding of regional and site-specific habitat associations within the community of shoreline-dependent birds during fall migration, when many species are near peak annual abundances. Between August 15 and October 28, 2006 almost 45,000 observations of 42 species at 10 coastal study sites were recorded in southwestern Lee County, Florida. Counts varied strongly by species, site, behavior, and habitat. This study documents striking differences in the community of birds using the study area for foraging and for roosting. Foraging birds were comprised of primarily shorebirds and herons using low-energy intertidal areas and wrack lines around bay beaches, lagoons, and inlet shorelines. Seabirds, particularly terns, skimmers, and pelicans were dominant roosting birds, using intertidal areas on flood shoals, bay beaches, and lagoons. Several plover species roosted almost exclusively along inlet shorelines in and around old, decaying wrack. A small number of heavily used sites contributed a majority of all observations, including a new inletwashover area that was created by Hurricane Charley in 2004, known locally as Charley Pass.