Monitoring and Management of Rooftops and Overview of Historic rooftop sites on

the Space Coast

Rooftop Nesting on Tar and Gravel Roofs

• 80% of least terns in Florida nesting on rooftops

• Black skimmers on east coast mostly restricted to rooftops

Least Tern Colonies in Florida: The trend towards roofs

• Southeast 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unpublished data 2000)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 roofs

• 32% roofs became unsuitable from 2000-2010

• 146 active, 221 inactive, 107 unsuitable

• 16 sites with 2 or more species

Survey of Rooftops in the Space Coast - 2010

Active Rooftops

Inactive Rooftops

Unsuitable Rooftops

Surveyed Rooftops

9

19

12

40

Rooftops – North Brevard CountySiteName StreetAddress City 2010 2011 2012

Quality Inn (Lucks Way Inn) 3655 Cheney Hwy. Titusville inactive

Riverside Inn 1829 Riverside Dr. Titusville inactive

Audubon Elementary 1201 Banana River Drive Merritt Island unsuitable

Toys R Us/Barnes & Noble 780 E. Merritt Island Cswy. Merritt Island inactive

Wuesthoff Medical Center 2404 N. Courtenay Pkwy. Merritt Island inactive

Cape Canaveral AFB DASO HQ Bldg Cape Canaveral Cape Canaveral inactive LETE abandoned inactive

KSC Headquarters Bldg. M6-399 (S of Nasa Pkwy. between Aves. C & D) Kennedy Space Center LETE

KSC Launch Equipment Shop K6-1247 (SE of Contractor's Rd. & Saturn Cswy.) Kennedy Space Center LETE

KSC Logistics Facility K6-1547 (E side Contractor's Rd.) Kennedy Space Center inactive

Health First Business Center 3300 S. Fiske Blvd. Rockledge inactive

Warehouse across from Riverwalk Park 5440 Schenck Ave Rockledge LETE

AMKO Incinerator Corp. (Beyel Brothers) 550 Cidco Rd. Cocoa inactive

Best Western-Cocoa Inn 4225 West King St. Cocoa LETE unknown

Byrd Plaza 801 Dixon Boulevard Cocoa LETE

Four Seasons Condo 3799 S Banana River Blvd Cocoa unsuitable

Inland Plywood Co. 256 Olive St. Cocoa inactive

Cocoa Beach High School 1500 Minutemen Cswy. Cocoa Beach unsuitable

Cocoa Beach Recreation Bldg 321 Ramp Rd Cocoa Beach unsuitable

Motel 6 3701 North Atlantic Ave. Cocoa Beach LETE, BLSK LETE, BLSK

Place in the Sun Condos 724 S. Atlantic Ave. Cocoa Beach inactive

Rooftops – South Brevard CountySiteName StreetAddress City 2010 2011 2012

Commissary (2 bldgs?) S. Patrick Drive Patrick AirForceBase inactive LETE, BLSK abandoned inactive

Apartment Complex 1328 S. Patrick 1328 S. Patrick Dr. near Island Dr Satellite Beach inactive

Delaura Middle School 300 Jackson Avenue Satellite Beach unsuitable

U.S. Post Office (Now Vacant) 210 Jackson Avenue Satellite Beach LETE abandoned

Sherwin Williams 1944 Hwy. A1A Indian Harbor Beach inactive

Bealls 204 E. Eau Gallie Blvd Indian Harbor Beach unsuitable

Our Club (Vista Del Mar) 1220 N Hwy A1A Indialantic unsuitable

Albertsons #4429-Lake Washington Square 2447 N. Wickham Rd. Melbourne inactive

Belk (The Avenue Viera) 2261 Town Center Ave. (Suite 131) Melbourne LETE inactive

The Melting Pot 2261 Town Center Ave. Melbourne inactive

Eau Gallie High School 1400 Commodore Blvd Melbourne unsuitable

Harris Corporation-Building C 1301 Woody Burke Rd. Melbourne inactive

Health and Fitness Center 611 Sheridan St Melbourne unsuitable unknown

Home Depot #260 2865 N New Haven Ave Melbourne unsuitable

Publix #00467 at Suntree Square 7777 N. Wickham Rd. Melbourne inactive LETE

Publix 3830 A1A Melbourne LETE unknown

Sykes Creek Professional Center 255 Sykes Creek Pkwy Melbourne unsuitable

Suntree Health Plex 6300 N. Wickham Rd Melbourne inactive

Winn-Dixie 961 Eau Gallie Melbourne LETE, BLSK inactive

Wuesthoff Medical Center 7000 Spyglass Court Melbourne unsuitable

Office Depot 820 Palm Bay Rd NE Palm Bay inactive

Non-gravel roof nesting

Monitoring – Flush Counts

• Count when there is a flushing event• Conduct several counts if possible and use the highest count

of adults• Wait at least 15 minutes if no birds are seen or heard• Monitor per FSA count windows

Monitoring – Direct Counts

• Obtain permission to access adjacent property• Conduct direct counts of adults, nests, and/or chicks• May require a spotting scope or binoculars• Monitor per FSA count windows

Management – Chick fences

Management – Preventive Maintenance of A/C and Roof Repairs

Management – Shade and Shelter

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 day

Management – Chick Checking

The chick-a-boom ride

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

Education• Signs available for

distribution to willing building owners and managers