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Everybody loves charismatic megafauna, such as dolphins, manatees, whales and sea turtles. So do I!
But as an avid birder, I try not to get too offended when I’m telling guests on my boat eco-tours about “these amazing nesting wading birds and pelicans” and the dolphins show up. All heads onboard turn to watch the dolphins. My beloved birds have to settle for second billing and an even shorter interpretation.
Explaining the marvel and challenges of shorebirds is also a naturalist’s exercise in patience. During the winter months, I lead a monthly boat tour up to Disappearing Island to watch migratory shorebirds through binoculars and spotting scopes. The goal is to help guests understand the miracle of migration -- with many of the birds we watch in Florida on their journey from South America to the Arctic tundra to nest.
And yes, while we get super excited about all of our nesting sea turtles in Canaveral National Seashore, there is another little superstar on those same beaches that doesn’t get the same fanfare. That would be the Wilson’s plover – one of the few shorebirds that nest on Florida’s east coast.
These sandpiper-like birds are small and have single, dark-collar rings around their necks. Coastal waders, they scramble around on the shorelines of beaches, tidal mudflats and sandbars, nibbling on small crabs, marine worms, insects, small mollusks and shrimp.
And while they look similar to many other shorebirds, the Wilson’s plover has a large black bill that is heavier and longer than other birds of its type. These birds, like other shorebirds, lay their eggs right on the sand. The buff-colored eggs are the same color as the sand underneath them and the eggs are incubated by both parents taking shifts for about 25 days.
When it’s time for the chicks to hatch, these precocial, downy darlings pop right out of their egg shells and begin looking for food. Their parents shadow these curious newcomers, but the chicks feed themselves. They are ready to fly after 21 days.
Certainly, there are nowhere near as many Wilson’s plover nests on our beaches as sea turtles. In 2025, Canaveral National Seashore was the hatching zone for 13,271 sea turtle nests (typically producing around 100 eggs per nest), as well as the host site for 54 nests of Wilson’s plovers (typically producing 2-3 eggs per nest).
And while nesting totals for Wilson’s plovers and four different species of sea turtles are vastly different, these species share the same precious space in the park. One will be enjoyed by many guests during this summer’s Turtle Watch program -- set for June and July -- and one will incubate in silence atop hot, speckled sand waiting for the day to emerge into a giant world of sunshine, edible critters, stalking predators and human feet.
Miracles – large and small – happen on the beaches of Canaveral National Seashore every summer. The large turtle mamas are exciting as they dig to deposit the eggs that will hatch into emerging baby sea turtles. The quiet plover parents, sitting quietly on their eggs, await newborn chicks ready to explore.
Both of these explosions of new life are important in our coastal ecosystem. Both need our protection through conservation.
And both -- representing the largest and the smallest of Canaveral’s native species -- are annual reminders of the park’s role in providing critical habitat for future populations of animals that draw crowds, as well as those that draw a few admirers with binoculars from a safe distance, stepping carefully as tiny cotton-ball chicks strike out into the world.
Lisa D. Mickey
President, Friends of Canaveral
Lisa D. Mickey is a Florida Master Naturalist / Florida Land Steward
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