About 50 nests of threatened least terns were discovered last week on the… (Justin Gould )
A section of beach in Fort Lauderdale was roped off Saturday to protect about 50 nests of a threatened bird called the least tern, with biologists hoping to preserve the nests until the eggs hatch and the young birds learn to fly.
The nests, shallow depressions in the sand containing one or two eggs, represent the first known colony of least terns to nest on the beach in South Florida in many years.
"Do Not Enter — Important Nesting Area," read signs posted around the site, a wide stretch of beach just north of the Port Everglades inlet.
"Hopefully, people will respect the fence and not step inside or get too close and flush the adults," said Ricardo Zambrano, a biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The nests were discovered last week by volunteers with Sea Turtle Oversight Protection, an organization that guards sea turtle nests. They noticed large numbers of the gray, white and black birds flying around the area.
"I saw all these terns flying around, and a lot of them were on the ground," said Ann Wiley, a volunteer who first realized what was going on. "As soon as I saw that many terns, I knew there had to be eggs. I immediately knew we had to do something."
Realizing they had a wildlife emergency on their hands, they contacted the state wildlife service Friday, which sent a biologist to the site Saturday.
Like several other species of beach-nesting birds, least terns have withdrawn from the beach in South Florida, driven away by development and crowds. They now nest in South Florida almost exclusively on tar and gravel roofs, such as those found on top of strip malls, which makes their sudden appearance on the beach particularly notable.
"It's very unusual," Zambrano said. "They don't really use beaches in South Florida. There's too many people."
About 100 birds are on the site, he said. The eggs, spotted to camouflage them against the sand, will take 22 to 23 days to hatch. The young will take about three weeks to learn to fly and leave the nest.
A major concern is predators, such as raccoons, foxes and cats. One reason they nest in colonies is to detect predators and mob any that approach, according to the wildlife commission.
The nests are located around the site of a sand dune that was destroyed by the adjacent condominiums after a long legal fight with the sea turtle group and Broward County.
Least terns migrate for the winter to South America, returning to South Florida in mid-April or later to begin nesting. They catch small fish with their sharply pointed beaks, and the males use offerings of fish to court potential mates.
Wiley said it was important to protect this colony.
"All the birds that nest on the beach are having a super-hard time because we've taken over the beach," she said.