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Hurricanes wreak havoc on coastal communities, causing flooding and property damage and putting human lives at risk. The 2024 Atlantic Hurricane Season proved extremely destructive in Florida, with three landfalling storms contributing to one of the costliest seasons to date. However, one year later, as human communities continue rebuilding, coastal bird populations are thriving in the storm-altered landscape. In 2025, the �ԹϺ��� Florida team recorded several American Oystercatchers nesting in habitat that was human-made or altered by the 2024 hurricanes. �ԹϺ���'s efforts to rope off critical habitat, educate beachgoers about their camouflaged nests, and ongoing work to protect coastal areas for conservation aligned to ensure a successful nesting season.

BACKGROUND

American Oystercatchers (Haematopus palliatus) are large, black-and-white shorebirds with long, pink legs, bright yellow eyes, and a charismatic orange bill. The bill is distinctive in its color as well as its form—it is long and chisel-shaped to enable the birds to adeptly maneuver and hammer open the shells of their favorite foods: oysters, clams, and mussels.

Breeding in coastal areas along the Atlantic Flyway and around the Gulf Coast, oystercatchers typically build their nests directly on beaches in sandy or shelly areas with limited vegetation. To be successful, they must nest near where they can find ample food resources, such as among dunes, on islands in salt marshes, or on dredge spoil islands, and need space to place their nests above the high tide line to avoid overwash, or flooding from tides or ship wakes. However, as shorelines narrow and suitable habitat disappears, oystercatchers are increasingly forced to nest closer to the high tide line, where their eggs are vulnerable to erosion and storm surge, leading to many nests washing away before they hatch.

“Although storms are damaging to human infrastructure, the wind and wave action help to build sand deposits along the shore and reset vegetated shorelines to create open sandy habitat that many beach-nesting birds need,” says Audrey DeRose-Wilson, �ԹϺ���’s director of bird conservation.

Nationwide, American Oystercatcher numbers declined seriously in the 19th century, then started to recover. Unfortunately, the birds have since experienced habitat loss and disturbance to their beach-nesting and feeding grounds. Other threats include sea level rise and predators, many of which are lured to beaches by human activities.

All told, American Oystercatchers are experiencing more challenging conditions and have lost 50% of their population in the past five decades. Scientists estimate around 10,000 individuals are remaining nationwide, with only 419 breeding adults estimated to be in Florida. Conservation organizations like �ԹϺ��� hope to build on recent stable population trends to increase their numbers through the coastal stewardship program. 

SOUTHWEST FLORIDA

Barrier islands in Collier County host several species of beach-nesting birds, including Wilson’s Plover, Least Tern, and Black Skimmer. In May, Shorebird Program Manager Megan Hatten, who monitors Southwest Florida beaches for nesting all summer, was stunned to see a pair of American Oystercatchers set up a nest on a sand spit known as Dickman’s Shoals, just north of Marco Island within the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. She made sure the nesting area was quickly posted to alert beachgoers to avoid disturbing them.

“This location has been building up over the past few years, from just low-lying sandbars to a full shoreline,” says Hatten. “Last year, the three hurricanes brought in more sand and built the area up higher, and also removed the taller native vegetation in the area,” she added.

Dickman’s Shoals had been covered in railroad vine, but after three storm events overwashed the location, the sand is more open, with clumps of sea oats instead of being covered by railroad vine. Combined with its remote location away from the mainland, it became the perfect choice for YA6, a two-year-old American Oystercatcher that hatched up the coast at Fort De Soto and was banded by biologists in 2023.

According to Hatten, this is likely YA6’s first nest, and according to the Florida Shorebird Database, the first American Oystercatcher nest recorded in Collier County.

Thanks to the monitoring efforts of Hatten and her volunteer team, we know the nest did well and reached its hatch date with both parents doing a great job incubating two eggs; however, the team never saw any chicks and believes Fish Crows or other predators may have preyed on them. There is good news, though: Land managers with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection removed Australian pines just across the lagoon, which should mean there will be fewer crows in the area moving forward. Hatten says the pair is still around and has been seen a few times since the nest failed. She is optimistic they will try again next year.

In Lee County, �ԹϺ��� assisted with the creation of a new stewardship program at Cayo Costa State Park in 2023, which ended up being the site of Lee County’s only successful American Oystercatcher nest that year. Hatten reports that two chicks fledged from Cayo Costa in 2025.

TAMPA BAY REGION

Over the past few years, American Oystercatcher pairs nesting within the Florida Coastal Islands Sanctuaries have had varying success in fledging young. Coastal Biologist Aaron White, like Hatten, reported that a combination of storm surge and erosion from the 2024 hurricanes created bare nesting habitat safely above the tide line, particularly at a spoil island called Dredge Material Management Area 3D. Oystercatchers took advantage of it.

In 2025, five pairs nested there, and four of those nests fledged chicks. Two pairs nested above rocky riprap in sandy areas that were cleared of vegetation, each fledging at least one chick. �ԹϺ���'s monitoring dataset showed this was an improvement. 

“Oystercatchers were able to raise a lot more chicks at 3D,” said White. “They fledged a total of six chicks, which was equal to the three previous years combined,” he added.

In addition to increased availability of nesting habitat, White noted that chicks sought out shade in the debris deposited by hurricanes on 3D’s shore.

FLORIDA PANHANDLE

Early in the 2025 season, high tides from unnamed storms washed over some beaches and islands in the Panhandle, where nesting oystercatchers similarly experienced a better-than-average year. Apalachicola Shorebird Steward Zach Matchinski recorded two American Oystercatcher nests on Flag Island Critical Wildlife Area, with chicks fledging from both nests.

“The first nest we were watching had three eggs,” says Matchinski, who later saw that the entire nest cup and eggs had become inundated by the tides. He expected the nest to be lost, but a few weeks later, while counting Black Skimmer nests in the colony, the team happened to see two little oystercatcher chicks running around! They were thrilled to confirm that both chicks fledged.

The second nest was in a much better location, on top of a vegetated hill, so it didn't have any problem with high tides. The team found it with three eggs and confirmed that at least one of those chicks fledged.

Nearby, American Oystercatchers typically nested successfully at the St. George Island Causeway, which is what remains of an old causeway that was replaced by a bridge. In 2019, �ԹϺ��� led a project installing rip-rap along sections of the causeway to reduce erosion, enhancing the habitat there for nesting birds. The 2024 hurricanes inundated the causeway. The sea wall that remained along some sections of the causeway trapped water landward, resulting in erosion of the island and structural damage to the sea wall; however, the sections with rip-rap successfully reduced wave action while still allowing water from the storm surge to leave the island as intended. Col Lauzau, �ԹϺ���’s Panhandle shorebird program manager, reported an excellent year at the Causeway in 2025, with six to seven pairs nesting and most fledging multiple chicks.

CONCLUSION

In a year of tremendous habitat loss due to rising water and hurricanes, American Oystercatchers in many areas benefited from coastal changes, using the freshly overwashed sand and small pockets of human-made habitat to raise their young. Their efforts were made more successful by �ԹϺ���'s coastal stewardship program. 

Do your part to help oystercatchers survive and thrive:

• Give nesting birds at least 100 feet of distance or as much as possible.
• Respect posted signs and areas closed for beach-nesting birds.
• Avoid walking through flocks of birds on the beach. 
• If pets are permitted on beaches, keep them leashed and well away from birds.
• Remove trash and food scraps, which attract predators that will also eat birds’ eggs and/or chicks. 
• Properly dispose of fishing line and gear.
• Do not drive on beach dunes or other nesting areas.