Monitoring shorebirds during beach renourishment
As beach renourishment projects reshape portions of Hilton Head Island’s shoreline, understanding how wildlife responds is an important part of the process. For Allie Hayser, a shorebird biologist with Manomet Conservation Sciences leading this work on Hilton Head, this means tracking how birds use the beach before, during and after these efforts, while monitoring how shorebirds use the island’s beaches throughout the year. When a large project such as beach renourishment occurs, it becomes especially important to understand where birds are feeding, resting and gathering so scientists can track their response over time.
Manomet leads ongoing shorebird monitoring on Hilton Head in partnership with the Town of Hilton Head Island, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and volunteers. Hayser conducts field monitoring and works closely with partners to better understand how birds use key areas of the island.
This work focuses on locations that consistently support high numbers of birds, including Fish Haul Beach, Pine Island and the Port Royal Sound shoreline. Fish Haul is one of the most important sites on the island. Its mudflats, sandbars and shoreline provide essential habitat for birds that rely on quiet places to rest and feed during migration and throughout the winter. These areas are especially important at high tide, when feeding habitat is covered and birds gather in concentrated roosting areas.
To understand how birds use these habitats, Hayser conducts regular monitoring surveys, recording species, counts and behaviors such as feeding, resting or flying. She also documents disturbance events, such as people or dogs approaching birds, and environmental conditions that may influence where birds gather.
Another key component is resighting banded birds. Many migratory shorebirds carry small leg flags that allow researchers to identify individuals and track their movements across the hemisphere, contributing to a broader understanding of migration along the Atlantic Flyway. Recent surveys have documented a wide range of species using Hilton Head’s north-end habitats, including red knots and piping plovers, both species of conservation concern, as well as American oystercatchers, sanderlings, black-bellied plovers, ruddy turnstones, marbled godwits, willets and several tern species. Many gather in large groups on sandbars near Fish Haul Creek, particularly during high tide.
Monitoring has also identified important high-tide roost areas where birds rest when feeding grounds are unavailable. These locations often overlap with popular areas for walking and exploring sandbars, increasing the potential for unintentional disturbance.
To address this, partners are working on a community-focused effort centered on a proposed voluntary Wildlife Beach Area at Fish Haul. The goal is to highlight the importance of the shoreline, particularly the sandbars and mudflats near the spa area, and encourage simple stewardship practices such as giving birds space.
This effort includes developing signage with the Town of Hilton Head Island and engaging volunteers to share information directly with beach visitors. Outreach is designed to be friendly and informative, helping people understand how small actions can make a difference.
As Hilton Head seeks to balance coastal management with conservation, monitoring continues to show its vital role for shorebirds, especially the piping plover. Each winter, plovers from the Great Lakes, Atlantic and Great Plains populations return to the island to feed and rest, underscoring how essential these beaches are and how community awareness helps protect them for future generations.
To learn more, visit manomet.org/project/ga-bight-shorebird-conservation.
Patty Kappmeyer is a photographer and writer based on Hilton Head Island. She is the owner of LowcountryBirdsandNature.com and serves on the Board of Hilton Head Audubon.
