The Hilton Head Island Audubon Society offers the following tips to help share the beach with shorebirds and seabirds and protect them in their natural habitat. Shorebirds are an important part of the barrier island ecosystem and a sign of a wild and healthy beach. We are fortunate to share our beaches with this valuable natural resource!
- S.O.S. Share Our Shores! Share the beach with shorebirds.
- Keep your dog on a leash and stay away from nesting areas. To birds, dogs look like a natural predator and might cause them to be unnecessarily alarmed.
- Keep away from posted nesting and feeding areas. Entering these areas can result in a loss of eggs or chicks and can lead to civil or criminal penalties.
- Avoid walking, biking, or boating through large flocks of birds. The actions of one person walking through a flock can be detrimental to hundreds of birds. Make every attempt to walk around the flock.
- Be alert. Beach-nesting birds are often well camouflaged and some are not much bigger than a sparrow.
- Do not feed gulls. They are a top predator of nesting beach bird eggs and chicks and feeding them attracts more to the beach.
- Take your trash with you.
- Teach others to appreciate South Carolina’s shorebirds and seabirds.