Birding Brevard: Shearwater Die-Off Stuns Space Coast

By Dave Freeland

In early June, when most local birders were drifting quietly into their annual summer hiatus, a shocking event brought them back to life. Hundreds of Greater Shearwaters, birds seldom seen from land in Brevard County, were found near-shore and on the beach, many of them dying from some unclear cause.

More than 130 of them were brought in starved, weakened condition to rescue centers such as the Florida Wildlife Hospital and Sanctuary in Palm Shores and the Wildlife Care Center in Canaveral Groves. Only a small percentage could be saved from dying.

Although shocking, this sort of die-off isn’t unusual for seabirds which migrate regularly through our area. It’s just that birders see so few of these species that they are drawn as if by a magnet to the spectacle. Visitors to Port Canaveral could see Greater Shearwaters resting on the ocean’s surface between the jetties. Many were visible from land at popular vantage sites like Sebastian Inlet and Playalinda Beach at Canaveral National Seashore.

From Hobe Sound south of us to St. Augustine to the North, birders were reporting dozens of shearwaters, most of them Greaters, along with other pelagic species usually far out to sea at this (and any) time of year.

The cause of the catastrophe was undoubtedly a decline in their favored food, “bait fish” to deep-sea fishermen. It could have been an algae bloom or other toxin-producing event that kills fish and birds alike, but a change in where the fish are was the probable reason.

Winds and ocean currents cause bait fish and the tuna and other larger fish that eat them to be displaced, and the shearwaters are left wondering where their next meal will come from. Hungry, they chase closer to shore in search of sustenance. If they cannot find food, they weaken and many die. Fishermen were unable to find many tuna this June. Neither could the shearwaters seeking the bait fish.

Events like this occur not infrequently (another, less severe, happened in 2005 and a die-off of Northern Gannets occurred in 2003), and we probably should not be overly alarmed when these events occur. Populations of Greater, Cory’s and Sooty Shearwaters – the “big three” along the Atlantic Coast – seem stable. Each is an abundant species worldwide.

Sooty and Greater Shearwaters breed on southern ocean islands, so we see them on their post-breeding migration route north into the Western North Atlantic. Most swing across toward Europe and Africa before returning to the South Atlantic and South Pacific to breed again in our winter. Cory’s breeds in the Eastern North Atlantic, then migrates west to our shores in the fall.

Where to Go: As autumn approaches the Space Coast, many knowledgeable birders head to the ocean beaches on days when strong winds blow from the North or East. They are rewarded with nice flights of sea ducks and jaegers, perhaps some of those shearwaters that survived spring’s disaster and are getting ready to find their breeding grounds once again. Playalinda Beach is an excellent spot to witness this migration because the beach faces in a northeastly direction.

Bird of the Month: Actually of mid-summer, the Brown Booby that frequented Port Canaveral for a few weeks provided many local birders with an unaccustomed look at this southern, oceanic species. It wasn’t involved in the shearwater die-off discussed above, but it was a sight worth seeing for many of us.

Your Question: This photo (attached to the e-mail) is from the United Kingdom. To me, it looks like a young Canvasback, given the sloping forehead and field marks.

A – I don’t see the same forehead slope that you do, though perhaps it’s just the angle of the photo. Why isn’t it an immature Redhead? (Later communications confirmed that it was, indeed, a Redhead, a species the writer wasn’t familiar with.)

Forward your birding question to me at freela148@aol.com. I’ll answer as many as I can directly and will publish one each month in The Limpkin.