SIB

As we celebrate our mothers today, we celebrate someone who’s nurturing, protecting, caring and loving. Someone who provides many of the things we need to grow, learn, and navigate our way through life.

Bird moms do the same. They build strong nests to raise their families, protect the eggs, feed the babies, teach and encourage them as they take flight for the first time.

One only needs to walk around Seabrook Island to see bird moms and dads busily building nests, incubating eggs, or carrying food back and forth to the nestlings.

On this Mother’s Day, take a moment to look around and appreciate the care and dedication shown by all these other mothers in the world, too.

Photos by Gina Sanders

Brown Pelican – Pelecanus occidentalis
Length:  51″; Wingspan: 79″; Weight: 131.2 oz.

Brown Pelicans are a very common site on Seabrook Island all year long. This large bird is commonly found on our island flying over the dunes and beaches in V-formations or single file, flapping and gliding in unison. Sometimes you even see them coasting just inches above the water. While in flight, pelicans hold their heads drawn back on their shoulders. Have you ever seen them feed? It is a fabulous site! They drop from the air sometimes as high as 60 feet and plunge dive head first into the water and scoop and trap their prey in their extended pouch. Then they drain the water out the sides of their bill and now are left with a tasty catch of fish usually either herring, sheepshead, mullet, pigfish, minnows or pinfish. Adult Brown Pelicans consume as much as four pounds of fish per day. Ever wonder why the pelican doesn’t get hurt during these plunges? Well, air sacs beneath the skin on their breasts act like cushions to protect them during impact. They also rotate their body ever so slightly to the left. This helps to avoid injury to their esophagus and trachea which are located on their right side.

The Brown Pelican adult has a gray-brown body with white and pale yellow head and a long bill (11-13 inches) and an expandable throat pouch that can carry nearly 3 gallons of water and/or fish. The back of the neck turns chestnut in breeding season. Males and females look similar in color however males are slightly larger. Pelican bodies are large and heavy, they have short legs and webbed feet. Their wings are long and broad. Juveniles are all brown at first then change gradually to adult plumage.

Brown Pelicans are very gregarious birds. Both males and females live in flocks throughout the year. They are exceptionally buoyant due to internal air sacks beneath their skin and in their bones.

Their nests are large and flat and made of grass, straw and sticks and built in a tree or if on the ground the nest consists of a shallow scrape lined with feathers and a rim of soil. They lay 2-4 white eggs and incubation ranges from 28-30 days and is carried out by both parents. They incubate their eggs by covering them with their webbed feet. Brown pelicans are monogamous (have only one partner) throughout the breeding season and nest in large colonies.

They breed in large numbers on Deveaux Bank, a 215 acre seabird sanctuary, located between Edisto Island and Seabrook Island. This Brown Pelican colony is the largest one in South Carolina and is responsible for 67% of all Brown Pelicans nesting in South Carolina and 25% of the Brown Pelican’s nesting on the Atlantic coast.

The oldest brown pelican on record was 43 years of age.

A group of Pelicans has many collective nouns, including a “brief”, “pod”, “rush”, “pouch”, “scoop” and “squadron” of Pelicans.

The Crab Bank Pelicam, just off Mount Pleasant in Charleston Harbor, brings you live video of nesting pelicans.  You will also hear the low grunts typical in a colony.

If you would like to learn more about this bird visit:

• The Cornell Lab of Ornithology – All About Birders: Brown Pelican

Submitted by Flo Foley and Photographs by Ed Konrad
Resubmitted 2024 by  SIB

This blog post is part of a series SIB will publish on a regular basis to feature birds seen in the area, both migratory and permanent residents.  When possible we will use photographs taken by our members.    Please let us know if you have any special requests of birds you would like to learn more about.

Two Great Horned Owlets were hatched in late winter between two nests on Seabrook Island. And like all young families, the parents have been busy feeding and caring for them around the clock.

These little nestlings are helpless when born, covered in white down and completely dependent on mom and dad. But they grow quickly, leaving the nest to climb around on surrounding branches at five weeks, and flying within 9-10 weeks. Their parents continue to care for and feed them for several months.

We’ve taken care to respect their privacy and give them plenty of space to raise their familes undisturbed. We’re very excited to be able to share their photos and reveal these adorable cuties!

Welcome to our world, little Owls!

Photos by Glen Cox, taken from a safe distance with a 400mm lens.

This little guy can be heard right now in all our marshes on Seabrook Island. They like to hang out in the tall grasses. This bird looks very much like a Carolina wren. (See the picture below to compare) They are an inch smaller than the Carolina Wren. They also have more black patterns on wings and back. They both are rusty-brown with a white eyebrow. But their songs are very different. The marsh wren has a very fast, buzzy, trilling sound. Marsh Wrens are boisterous songsters that sing not only at dawn and dusk, but sometimes throughout the night. Marsh wrens are usually seen alone or sometimes in pairs. 

Marsh Wrens pick insects and spiders from stems and leaves of marsh vegetation. They tend to forage close to water, but occasionally fly up to catch a passing insect. Males build several nests within their territory and breed with more than one female. They also destroy eggs and nestlings of other Marsh Wrens and marsh-nesting birds. Adults often return to the same breeding territories year after year. Males arrive on the breeding grounds first and begin building several dome-shaped nests. When a female arrives, he cocks his tail and sings. He then escorts her around to his nests, bowing and holding up his tail. Once the female selects the nest, they both aggressively defend the territory.

Although populations appear stable, like other species that rely on marsh habitat, draining and filling of marshes could be problematic for Marsh Wrens.

If you would like more information about Marsh Wrens, visit https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Marsh_Wren/overview

This blog post is part of a series SIB will publish on a regular basis to feature birds seen in the area, both migratory and permanent residents.  When possible we will use photographs taken by our members.    Please let us know if you have any special requests of birds you would like to learn more about.

Submitted by Melanie Jerome
Photos by Dean Morr and Audubon
References – All About Birds

The article below has been updated since its original post in 2017.  Current SIB members may experience different colony nests than reported here.

Recently we visited the rookery seen on Ocean Winds golf course or at a recent Backyard Birding.   That caused us to ask which birds nest in “rookeries” here on Seabrook Island.  Quite a few people know of Great Egret, which is correct!  Someone else said Least Terns. They do nest in colonies, but in recent years they haven’t been successful on Seabrook as a result of predators and king tides.  Hopefully, this year will be better.  And then of course there is the Blue Footed Booby – yes, they are colonial nesters but never seen on Seabrook!  LOL

So, what is colonial nesting?  This term describes bird species that nest and breed in close proximity as a group.  It can vary from just a few breeding pairs to hundreds or thousands of pairs!  A colony can be a single species or several bird species in a single colony.  As some of our residents can attest, these colonies can be quite loud and very active with courting adults, begging chicks and the comings and goings of birds.

It is estimated that 10% of the world’s bird species are considered colonial nesters.  There are several benefits for these birds:

• Safety in numbers
• Sharing of duties, including parental, gathering food, etc
• Easier to find a replacement mate
• Increased chance of chick survival

There are some downsides to colonial nesting as well:

• Availability of food sources
• More predators may be attracted to site
• Disease can spread quickly
• Natural disasters

Common colonial nesters found in South Carolina include herons, egrets, cormorants, swallows and several types of seabirds and shorebirds.  Most of the egrets and herons form colonies with several species.  In most cases, the nests are built by both the male and female. In general, 3-5 eggs are laid with an incubation from 20-30 days depending on species.  The chicks are able to fly and leave the nests in as little as 4 weeks and some up to 7 weeks.

As most people know, the Great Egret and Snowy Egret colonies are the most obvious and can be seen easily on Jenkins Point and the pond off of the 4th hole of Ocean Winds. Great Egrets generally build their nests from 10-40′ above the water. Snowy Egrets build their nests 5-10′ above the water.

Green Herons can be found nesting in several locations, including around Palmetto Lake behind the Lake House, along Jenkins Point and on several of the canals and ponds throughout the island. They tend to nest as isolated pairs or in small groups, but not normally in large colonies.  Their nests are 5-30′ above water and the young are flying as early as 23 days.

The Black-crowned Night Heron and the Yellow-crowned Night Heron are both quite secretive and little is known about their breeding and rearing of young.  A nesting location on Jenkins Point is assumed but we know they are part of the rookery on Ocean Winds.  They do nest in isolated pairs or small colonies.

Three additional colonial nesting herons raise their young here in SC, but we have not seen any of their colonies on Seabrook Island.  A great place to view their nests (along with many other species) is at Magnolia Plantation.  It is worth the drive to view the magnificent rookery they have which includes both egrets along with Anhingas and others!  The Great Blue Heron builds its nest 20-60′ above ground/water, the Little Blue Heron’s nest is 5-30′ above ground/water and the Tri-colored Heron is only 2-10′ above ground/water.

The White and Glossy Ibis are also colonial nesters and we’ve heard the Glossy nests in a secretive spot somewhere on Jenkins point.

The closely related Double-crested Cormorant and the Anhinga are also colonial nesters.  The first often nests near water on a cliff edge or in trees.  The latter near quiet sheltered water.  Nesting Anhinga have been seen in recent years along Jenkins Point and again in the Ocean Winds rookery.

Finally, two of the most unusual and spectacular wading birds, the Wood Stork and the Roseate Spoonbill, are also colonial nesters.  When this article was originally submitted in 2017, we had no known colonies of these birds on Seabrook Island.  Since then, the Wood Storks have joined the rookery on Ocean Winds.  A rookery with Wood Storks is also only a 35 minute trip to Dungannon WMA.  It is rumored a pair of Roseate Spoonbills have nested in past seasons at Bear Island in the Ace Basin.

Brown Pelicans and Black Skimmers are colony nesters that are very evident on Deveaux Bank.  SCDNR estimated over 3,000 Brown Pelican nests were on Deveaux Bank in 2023.  On April 24, 2024, SCDNR once again closed Deveaux Bank.  Their explanatory statement was  SCDNR biologists also observed royal, sandwich, least and gull-billed terns and black skimmers flying low over the island, scouting for a stretch of sand to form their nesting colonies. Deveaux Bank often supports more nesting terns and skimmers than any other site in South Carolina, making it one of the most important islands in the region for seabird survival.

If you get a few minutes, take time to visit one of our rookeries to view the nesting birds and their young. It’s just another reason we love living here in paradise!

Article Submitted by:  Nancy Brown and updated by Judy Morr
Photographs by:  Ed Konrad