Audubon Florida has officially petitioned the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to list the Wilson’s Plover as a state-designated Threatened species

Audubon Florida has officially petitioned the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to list the Wilson’s Plover as a state-designated Threatened species under Florida’s Imperiled Species Rule.

 

Audubon says if additional protective action is not taken, the coastal bird species could disappear from Florida’s shorelines forever.

 

Wilson’s Plovers are shorebirds, dependent upon coastal habitat to find food and raise their families.

 

They are about the length of a human hand, weigh about two ounces, and primarily feed on fiddler crabs.

 

Statewide data collected by the Florida Shorebird Alliance estimated only 917 breeding adults remaining in 2021, and they can be found nesting in Franklin County.

 

Their population decline is driven by habitat loss and disturbance.

 

Coastal development and sea level rise continue to dramatically reduce the extent of the beach and marsh habitat this species requires to survive.

 

Disturbance by recreational beachgoers flushes adults from their nests, where unsheltered eggs can cook quickly in the intense Florida sun and chicks are vulnerable to opportunistic predators like crows and gulls.

 

Designating the Wilson's Plover as state-Threatened would confer additional protections on the birds, their eggs, nests, and habitat.

 

 Activities that harm Wilson's Plovers or degrade their habitat would require an Incidental Take Permit from the FWC, which in turn requires that the permit applicant minimize and mitigate for any harm and harassment they cause. 

 

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