Anna Maria Island’s least terns are getting ready to fly south for the winter.
The migratory shorebirds arrived on the island’s white sand beaches in the spring to mate and lay eggs. The least terns share the island’s beach nesting areas with other migratory shorebirds, including black skimmers and snowy plovers.
Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring volunteers locate the nesting areas, rope them off and provide wooden pallets for shade.
AMITW also monitors the nesting area and provides educational information to the public to help protect the federally protected shorebirds.
Least terns are listed as a threatened species in Florida, but are considered endangered in the Midwest and Great Plains states by the federal government.
Once the least tern chicks hatch, they spend several weeks getting training from their parents before they make the migratory trip south for the winter, according to AMITW executive director Suzi Fox.
Fox said the chicks learn to venture out to the surf and fish before they start “flight school,” after their feathers develop. “It’s so cute,” Fox said of watching the chicks learn to fly. “They wobble all over the place.”
The chicks remain with their parents until it’s time to start the fall migration.
Now that summer’s ending Sept. 23, the least tern chicks are ready to take flight with the adult birds as they head for warmer climates in Central America, South America and the Caribbean. Some least terns spend the winter on Anna Maria Island.
The shorebirds begin returning to the island in late March for the May-June nesting season.