Slide 1

Monitoring and Management of Rooftops and Overview of Historic rooftop sites on the Treasure Coast

Welcome and thank you for participating in the Breeding Bird Protocol Training on the Florida Shorebird Database. This training will give you a basic overview of how to monitor and report breeding shorebirds and seabirds onto the Florida Shorebird Database. If you havent already, please print off a copy of the protocol from our website listed here to reference throughout this training.

*Link to protocol will be inserted through Camtasia.

1Rooftop Nesting on Tar and Gravel Roofs

3CHICK CAMOFLAGUED ON THE ROOFGlasses are there for scale. Chicks are almost invisible during the brightness of the day. One reason why they have adapted to nesting on roofs.Least Tern Colonies in Florida: The trend towards roofsSoutheast Florida - 100% on Ground (Downing 1973)Florida Atlantic Coast 21% on Roofs (Fisk 1978)Southeast Florida 93% on Roofs (Zambrano et al 2000)Florida Keys 38% on Roofs (Hovis and Robson 1989)Florida Keys 100% on Roofs (Zambrano unpublished data 2000)

ROOFTOPS SURVEYED IN 2010

Six species nesting on roofs32% roofs became unsuitable from 2000-2010146 active, 221 inactive, 107 unsuitable16 sites with 2 or more species

ACTIVE ROOFTOPS IN THE TREASURE COAST - 2010

Roof tops - Indian River CountyLowes #0240 ,Home Improvement Warehouse 27.64011 -80.45225 6110 20th St. Vero Beach UNSUITABLE

Macy's-Indian River Mall 27.64265 -80.46151 Indian River Mall, Rt. 60 Vero Beach

Office Depot #380, Vero Beach 27.64025 -80.4489 5950 20th St Vero Beach

Publix #00284-Vero Beach 27.6392 -80.44608 2040 58th Ave Vero Beach - UNSUITABLE 27.62859 -80.39136 929 14th Lane Vero Beach 32960

Walgreens-Vero Beach 27.6379 -80.4457 5755 20th St Vero Beach Winn-Dixie #2354, Sebastian 27.77993 -80.4957 995 Sebastian Blvd Sebastian Roof Tops - St. Lucie CountyBayshore Elementary 27.28955 -80.36466 1661 SW Bayshore Blvd. Port St. Lucie

Dan McCarthy Middle School 27.43211 -80.3347 1201 Mississippi Avenue Ft. Pierce- UNSUITABLE Fort Pierce Police Department 27.4388 -80.32536 Hayes Road and US1 Ft. Pierce - UNSUITABLE Indian River Community College 27.42523 -80.35746 3209 Virginia Ave. (Bldg W) Ft. Pierce

Northport Middle School 27.32031 -80.35171 250 NW Floresta Pt. St. Lucie

Roof Tops - St. Lucie CountyOrange Blossom Mall 27.4266 -80.36733 4300 Okeechobee Rd. Ft. Pierce

Parkway Elementary 27.34803 -80.3695 7000 NW Selvitz Rd. Port St. Lucie - UNSUITABLE

St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant 27.34933 -80.24633 6501 South A1A Jensen Beach- UNSUITABLEBehind Treasure Coast Plaza 27.19217 -80.24828 901-907 Hillcrest Ave Stuart

Heritage Inn- Hobe Sound 27.09936 -80.15921 8605 S.E. Federal Highway Hobe Sound- UNSUITABLE

Publix - 5893 SE Federal Highway 27.1347 -80.20658 5893 SE Federal Highway Stuart

Stuart Fine Foods 27.19716 -80.2243 2300 S.E. Ocean Blvd. Stuart

Treasure Coast Plaza 27.19094 -80.24812 923 SE Lincoln Stuart

Wachovia Bank, Stuart 27.19753 -80.25506 301 E. Ocean Blvd. Stuart

Waterblasting Technologies 27.15039 -80.21116 3170 SE Slater Street Stuart Roof tops - Martin CountyNon-gravel roof nesting

Currently, the Florida Shorebird Database focuses on 6 species of shorebirds and 14 species of seabirds nesting here in Florida. All species are protected under state and federal law though some are listed as imperiled species. You will often find these birds nesting on beaches, spoil islands, oyster reefs, and even gravel rooftops! It is important to keep in mind that this part of the database applies ONLY to breeding shorebirds, not general observations. A wintering bird database is currently under development.

11Monitoring Flush Counts

Count when there is a flushing eventConduct several counts if possible and use the highest count of adultsWait at least 15 minutes if no birds are seen or heardMonitor per FSA count windows

Currently, the Florida Shorebird Database focuses on 6 species of shorebirds and 14 species of seabirds nesting here in Florida. All species are protected under state and federal law though some are listed as imperiled species. You will often find these birds nesting on beaches, spoil islands, oyster reefs, and even gravel rooftops! It is important to keep in mind that this part of the database applies ONLY to breeding shorebirds, not general observations. A wintering bird database is currently under development.

12Monitoring Direct Counts

Obtain permission to access adjacent propertyConduct direct counts of adults, nests, and/or chicksMay require a spotting scope or binocularsMonitor per FSA count windows

Currently, the Florida Shorebird Database focuses on 6 species of shorebirds and 14 species of seabirds nesting here in Florida. All species are protected under state and federal law though some are listed as imperiled species. You will often find these birds nesting on beaches, spoil islands, oyster reefs, and even gravel rooftops! It is important to keep in mind that this part of the database applies ONLY to breeding shorebirds, not general observations. A wintering bird database is currently under development.

13Management Chick fences

Currently, the Florida Shorebird Database focuses on 6 species of shorebirds and 14 species of seabirds nesting here in Florida. All species are protected under state and federal law though some are listed as imperiled species. You will often find these birds nesting on beaches, spoil islands, oyster reefs, and even gravel rooftops! It is important to keep in mind that this part of the database applies ONLY to breeding shorebirds, not general observations. A wintering bird database is currently under development.

14Management Preventive Maintenance of A/C and Roof Repairs

Currently, the Florida Shorebird Database focuses on 6 species of shorebirds and 14 species of seabirds nesting here in Florida. All species are protected under state and federal law though some are listed as imperiled species. You will often find these birds nesting on beaches, spoil islands, oyster reefs, and even gravel rooftops! It is important to keep in mind that this part of the database applies ONLY to breeding shorebirds, not general observations. A wintering bird database is currently under development.

15Management Shade and Shelter

Currently, the Florida Shorebird Database focuses on 6 species of shorebirds and 14 species of seabirds nesting here in Florida. All species are protected under state and federal law though some are listed as imperiled species. You will often find these birds nesting on beaches, spoil islands, oyster reefs, and even gravel rooftops! It is important to keep in mind that this part of the database applies ONLY to breeding shorebirds, not general observations. A wintering bird database is currently under development.

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Why Chick Check?Chicks may fall off roofs if there is no raised edge, fencing, or drain screensVolunteers should check for chicks at least 3 times a dayManagement Chick Checking17The best is to convince the rooftop owner to put a chick fence around the roof. Otherwise, volunteers are organized in chick-checking patrols and check on the problem roofs every few hours.. We try to get people at the site involved in chick rescue as well. Remember, all these chicks would have been dead without the chick-checkers

18Chicks just by roof edge. Scared, they go toward the middle in this case, but often not. Other way they fall off roof is that they get washed down the guttesr and downspouts during thunderstorms

The chick-a-boom ride19Nice of the ground, a chick has no chance of survival. We had to find a way to return them to the roof we never go onto the roof as that would cause more chicks to fall off. Years back we invited a tool, the chick-a-boom. It is low tech, is cheap to make so we cal leave it at the building without having to worry about is being stolen, but it works great to return chicks to roof on building 1-2 story tall

Chick corral and 3rd generation chick-a-boom, (John Hood - Suncoast partnership)

20In St. Petersburg/Clearwater where they have 10-20 occupied rooftops every year, they keep perfecting chick rescue. John Hood, a retired orthopedic surgeon, is now dedicated to invent chick saving devices. The newest chick-a-boom has wheels and a trap door. Carpeting smooth the chicks fall at the bottom of the downspouts.20 EducationSigns available for distribution to willing building owners and managers

21We usually approach rooftop owners and tenants and thank them for putting up with the birds while they nest. A little thank you goes a long way; people appreciate the recognition and the extra information we give them about the birds on their roof22THANK YOU!!!