Wildlife Diversity Program Quarterly Report for January–March 2026
Coastal Colonial Wading Bird Non-Barrier Nesting Islands Show Signs of Inundation and Erosion
by Kacy Cook, Waterbird Biologist, and Brooke Callisto, Waterbird Technician
W e witness ongoing changes to waterbird nesting islands in the course of conducting field surveys, but to understand the scale of change and plan for potential future habitat management that would support nesting waterbirds, a more detailed analysis of these changes was needed. To address this need, we delineated the shoreline of all known, non-barrier, coastal islands used for nesting by wad- ing birds in NC. We used nesting data going back to 1975 to identify these sites and color images on Google Earth dating back to 2003. We digitized the perimeter of the shoreline for every subsequent year for which a clear color image was avail- able. We did not measure islands that have not been known to host wading bird nesting, and we included dredge material islands with records of nesting. Looking at changes to these islands across time, we observed the following results. Of the 48 non-barrier nesting islands examined, 19 islands currently include no area of emergent habitat, 10 islands exhibit 50 to 95 percent erosion, and 19 islands are up to 25 percent eroded. Of the 12 islands with nesting wading birds in 2023, nine are up to 25 percent eroded, and three are 50 to 95 percent eroded. There is cur- rently only one island used for nesting in the Albemarle and Currituck sounds by Little Blue Herons and Snowy Egrets, two species which are declining rapidly. This island was mea- sured at 4.5 acres in 2003 and had decreased in size to 1.9 acres in 2024. Monitoring and analyzing the changes to waterbird nesting areas revealed dramatic losses in nesting habitat, demonstrat- ing the dynamic nature of these areas and suggesting that ero- sion and changing water levels are important threats for us to continue to track for the benefit of Species of Greatest Conser- vation Need.
Top, a 2003 Google Earth image of Monkey Island in the Currituck Sound; bottom, a 2024 Google Earth image of Monkey Island. This and many other bird nesting islands in North Carolina's sounds have declined in size over time.
Loggerhead sea turtle nesting crawls seen on Wrightsville Beach in the first week of July 2021.
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