ORANGE BEACH — While you may more often see a staked and roped off area of the beach indicating a sea turtle nest, have you ever run into a large closed off area with dozens, if not hundreds, of birds flying around and sitting on the sand?

Chances are this type of area is closed off for beach-nesting birds.

Nine bird species are known to commonly nest on Alabama's beaches, but only five are carefully watched for conservation concerns. These include snowy plovers, black skimmers, American oystercatchers, Wilson's plovers and least terns, according to Alabama Audubon's coastal outreach manager, Cortney Weatherby.

The nesting season for beach-nesting birds runs from about the middle of March through August.

Weatherby said some top estimated numbers of Alabama beach bird nests for this year are from royal terns with 1,100, least terns with 500 and black skimmers with 168. Caspian terns were estimated to have 140 nests this year, sandwich terns had 50, and snowy plovers had 46.

Some of the smaller rough-estimates are among the gull-billed tern with 36 nests, American oystercatchers with 13 and Wilson's plover with 3.

Weatherby said these numbers do not indicate a successful nest, and this year's success rates won't be calculated until after the season. Success is determined by the number of fledglings, or baby birds that survive to flight-capability, which makes their odds of survival "go up dramatically."

"Despite the number of nests, we don't have a high survival rate," she said.

According to data from Alabama Audubon in 2024 on beach-nesting success in Alabama, no Wilson's plovers fledglings survived from one nest.

Weatherby said Wilson's plovers historically have had zero to few nests all resulting in fails. This year, the first success was with a Wilson's plover fledging.

"It's especially exciting, too, because they nested at a restoration project site," she said, "which tells us that these types of projects are impacting our birds in a positive way and that there is hope for more things like this to happen in the future."

Also from the 2024 success rate data, 10 snowy plover fledglings survived out of 26 nests, two American oystercatcher fledglings survived from 11 nests, 62 survived from the 246 black skimmer nests, 139 survived from the 795 least tern nests, and the 53 gull billed tern nests saw seven fledglings.

"It varies by species, but there are generally three eggs per nest," Weatherby said. "... So, when you do the math on potential number of chicks per year versus how many survive, it's pretty low survival rates."

She said if a bird nests early in the season and results in a failed nest, it will often try again, "sometimes multiple times," in one season. Some attempt renesting four or five times, and some nest a second time even after a successful nesting. She said this varies among individual birds.

Fallan Batchelor, conservation code inspector and coastal stewardship coordinator with the Orange Beach Coastal Resources Division, said there have been around 200 total nests in Orange Beach this year.

As of July 17, there were two least tern nests and one black skimmer nest, which is somewhat uncommon for the area as it has not nested in Orange Beach since 2020, despite how black skimmer are always seen in the area.

FINDING A NEST

"Finding beach-nesting bird nests isn't always as obvious as finding a sea turtle nest," Weatherby said. "We have solitary nesters that nest somewhere away from other birds and colonial nesters that will nest in groups."

She said these colonial nesting birds aren't hard to spot as they often make a lot of noise. However, the solitary nesters typically camouflage their nests from predators and, ultimately, even the humans who are trying to help.

This makes finding the nest "like finding a needle in a haystack."

Weatherby said finding beach bird nests depends on tracking the adult birds and watching their behavior, which changes based on whether they are nesting. Then, Alabama Audubon crews look for "tracks and scrapes" that lead them to small, crater-like dents in the sand where beach-nesting birds will lay their eggs.

"Once we have found a nest, we put up posts, signs and usually some sort of rope around the nest to keep folks away from it so the eggs or chicks don't accidentally get stepped on," Weatherby said.

Batchelor, with the Coastal Resources Division, said fencing in Orange Beach is installed at known nesting areas earlier in the nesting season after permission is received from private property owners and state entities.

If a nest is found inside the nesting area, the date of discovery is recorded and the nest is monitored until the expected hatching date, Batchelor said. If a nest is outside of the fencing, the nest is marked and sometimes additional fencing is added.

HOW TO KNOW IF A BIRD IS NESTING ON THE BEACH

Batchelor said beachgoers who think least terns are preparing to nest can look for them to scrape at the sand before picking a nesting spot or watch for the "fish dance," where a male brings a fish present to a female as a proposition to mate.

However, not all displays of nesting birds are so romantic.

"Our beach-nesting birds will use tactics such as dive bombing and displaying aggravated behaviors such as higher pitched calls and being a bit more alert to human presence," Batchelor said.

Weatherby said the birds "will definitely let you know."

"We tell folks the phrase, 'If the birds are squawking, keep on walking,'" she said. "… If it feels like the birds are trying to chase you off, that's usually how you know there is a nest nearby and need to give those birds some space."

If you suspect you have spotted a nesting bird, reach out to Alabama Audubon at (205) 719-3678 or contact nearby wildlife organizations.

Never cover the eggs, as that can prevent the adults from incubating.

Batchelor said for Orange Beach sightings, call Coastal Resources at (251) 981-1063 or herself at (256) 310-3815.

She said marking the area of the nest with driftwood or something similar is helpful for staff to identify the nest and secure it with fencing if not secured already.

Common threats to beach-nesting birds, according to Weatherby, include human disturbance, habitat loss, washover from storm surges or high tides, and predators like foxes, coyotes, ghost crabs and bigger birds like crows, herons and gulls.

"Add all of those things together and life on the beach isn't as easy as it looks on the postcards," she said.

Batchelor said to admire beach-nesting birds from afar to allow them to preserve their energy and stay near their chicks. She said also be sure not to feed them, as they "do just fine without us."

"Keep our wild animals and birds wild," she said. "Most injuries to these animals are due to human interaction."

Because beach-nesting season takes place during summer months, when beaches are at peak popularity, the area where a bird can find a nesting site shrinks.

"Our coastlines are being developed at a rapid rate, which means that coastal wildlife is also losing prime habitat at a rapid rate," Weatherby said. "Therefore, our beach-nesting birds are being forced into smaller and smaller areas of suitable habitat."

She said this is why it is important to give beach-nesting birds space so they can preserve their energy and give their chicks the proper care they need.

Batchelor said to "embrace the birds" and observe the special ecosystems at Alabama's beaches.

"Although we have many visitors each year along with our local residents, we can all maintain a healthy balance with conservation and recreation and co-exist peacefully," Batchelor said.

The Alabama Coastal Bird Stewardship Program (ALCBSP) is a comprehensive conservation and research program focused on protecting shorebirds and their habitats along the Alabama Gulf Coast funded with Deepwater Horizon natural resource damage settlement funds provided by the Alabama Trustee Implementation Group. This project is further supported by the National Audubon Society through funding from the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.