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Across Florida Bay, the Audubon Everglades Research Station team kayaked, boated, and hiked through mangroves to monitor 244 Roseate Spoonbill nests in 22 active colonies.
- 157 nests fledged at least one chick
- 1.2 chicks produced per nest
- 66% success rate
What is the Audubon Everglades Research Station?
The Audubon Everglades Research Station (ERS) was established in the Florida Keys in 1939 by National Audubon Society's first director of research, Robert Porter Allen. Allen began a full-time study of the Roseate Spoonbill, living among them in a tent for weeks at a time. At the time, scientists would typically study birds’ eating habits by killing them and examining their stomach contents. However, the spoonbill was so scarce, Allen had to find another way to study them. His research changed how scientists studied birds and created a legacy of more than 85 years of data investigating the spoonbill and its habitat.
Today, ERS researchers continue to study the behavior and nesting success of the iconic spoonbill, as well as the flow of fresh water into Florida Bay and the impacts that the diversion of water has had throughout the Everglades ecosystem. Our experiments link changes in freshwater flow to changes in plants growing under the water and subsequent loss of small fishes. These fish are vital parts of the ecosystem, making up the food base for many higher predators such as game fishes, crocodilians, wading birds, and birds of prey.
Opportunity to Contribute to Roseate Spoonbill Science
Staff at ERS conduct weekly surveys of Roseate Spoonbill colonies in Florida Bay during nesting season to get nesting and general population data. Two of the colonies have been monitored for 30 years. In 2003, Audubon scientists began applying leg bands to chicks in nests in Florida Bay and in Tampa Bay at the Richard T. Paul Alafia Bank Bird Sanctuary, leased from and managed in collaboration with Mosaic and Port Tampa Bay. In 2013, staff also began banding birds hatching from nests at St. Augustine Alligator Farm. In total, Audubon has banded about 3,000 Roseate Spoonbills, which are considered an indicator species for Everglades ecosystem health. Banding spoonbill chicks has led to a greater understanding of dispersal rates and behavioral structures after nesting season in Florida Bay is over.
The ERS team is calling on bird enthusiasts across the state to search for Roseate Spoonbills and report banded birds on this form.
Each band resight will win a special sticker and contribute to critical population data for this iconic Florida species.
“Every banded spoonbill someone reports adds a data point we'd otherwise never get, and those resights add up fast, multiplying our efforts,” explains ERS Director Bryant Dossman. “They're one of the best tools we have for figuring out where these birds go and how their populations are doing, effectively extending our reach and giving everyone an opportunity to make a difference for conservation.”