By Peter Vankevich
This story has been corrected: Cape Hatteras National seashore produced a total of 21 American Oystercatcher fledglings: 18 on Ocracoke, 2 Hatteras (Cape Point) and 1 on Bodie Island.
Here is a 2025 nesting overview for the region.
Except for one notable bright spot, 2025 proved another tough breeding season for beach‑nesting birds across the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
According to the National Park Service’s Resource Management Field Summary, only 36 colonial waterbird chicks fledged in the Seashore, all Least Terns. Eight of those were on Ocracoke with 12 fledglings at Cape Point and 16 elsewhere on Hatteras Island. Ocracoke’s South Point also had two fledged Wilson’s Plovers.
Common Terns have declined nearly 80% since coast-wide surveys began in the late 1970s.
As in recent years, nest failure was driven by two familiar forces: predators and weather.
A single storm tide or a period of sustained heavy rain can destroy the nests. Mammalian predators—coyotes, opossums, mink, raccoons and feral cats—take a substantial toll on eggs and chicks.
On Ocracoke, a single coyote was suspected in many of the recent South Point losses. In August, U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services staff, at the National Park Service’s request, removed three coyotes from the island and no signs of them have been noted since.
There was encouraging news for American Oystercatchers here and elsewhere.
Ocracoke produced 18 fledglings while Hatteras Island (Cape Point) had 2 and Bodie island (1) for a total of 21 for Cape Hatteras National Seashore. For a bird that relies on scraping nests in exposed sand and shell near the waterline, such numbers stand out.
Just south of Ocracoke Island, the Cape Lookout National Seashore had 128 American Oystercatcher nests from 70 pairs and 30 fledged chicks, according to Jon Altman, its chief of Natural Resource Management. The North Core Banks produced most of these check as the South Core Banks continue to have heavy predation by coyotes. Only two nest on Shackleford Banks, nest quickly lost to probable coyote predation.
Nesting birds generally fare better on islands in the Pamlico Sound where mammals are scarce or absent. There the predators are mostly ghost crabs, Black‑crowned Night‑Herons and gulls that target hatchlings and exposed eggs.
“If there’s no disturbance from people, dogs, kites from kiteboarders, etc., the adult birds are better able to protect their eggs and chicks from these predators since they are not forced to leave vulnerable eggs or chicks in an effort to drive away or distract what they see as a potential threat,” said Carmen Johnson, a wildlife biologist with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC). “Predators take advantage of disturbance to grab unattended eggs or chicks. This is why it’s so important to give nesting birds space and remain outside of posted areas.”
A survey this summer by NCWRC of Big Foot Island—a dredge‑spoil island about a mile off Ocracoke visible from the long-route ferries—found a diverse colony.
Nests: 77 Black Skimmer, 10 Common Terns, 34 Gull‑billed Terns and two American Oystercatcher pairs that fledged two chicks.
Other nesters observed, but not counted: Royal Terns, Sandwich Terns, Brown Pelicans, Black‑crowned Night‑Herons, Great Black‑backed Gulls, American Herring Gulls and Great Egrets.
To reduce disturbance, NCWRC primarily tallies such colonies during the coastwide colonial waterbird survey held every three years. Historically, Big Foot’s largest nesting populations have been Royal Terns, Sandwich Terns and Brown Pelicans.
Beacon and Castle Islands, roughly a mile off Portsmouth Island in the Pamlico Sound, are owned and managed by Audubon North Carolina.
Audubon’s Coastal biologist Lindsay Addison reported a surprising shift this year on Beacon.
“No Brown Pelicans nesting there,” she wrote in an email. “We don’t know why. It’s not any lower or marshier than it has been in the past few years when there were several hundred pairs nesting there, but this year they all decided to be on Big Foot Island.”
Despite the absence of pelicans, Addison reported that there was a nice mixed-species wading bird colony on the island with Great Egrets, Black-crowned Night-Herons, Snowy Egrets, Tricolored Herons and Glossy Ibis.
“The glossies were a new addition as they haven’t been there in the recent past,” she said. “There were also some Laughing Gulls and Great Black-backed Gulls with nests, and as usual there were two pairs of oystercatchers that hatched and may have fledged chicks.”
Close by, tiny Shell Castle, a sliver of its former self from days gone past, hosted two pairs of nesting American Oystercatchers; one pair raised two chicks that likely fledged.
“I didn’t get to visit them after their estimated fledge date, so I can’t confirm, but when we banded them, they were doing well and close to fledging,” Addison said.
In addition to the nesting successes of the oystercatchers in the Cape Lookout National Seashore, Altman said there were a total of 35 colonial waterbird sites consisting of Black Skimmers, Gull-Billed Terns, Common Terns, and Least Terns. Old Drum Flats, Evergreen Inlet and Ophelia Inlet spit having larger numbers and chick productivity.
He noted that the South Core Banks continue to have heavy predation by coyotes. Only two colonial waterbird nest site were on Shackleford Banks, but quickly lost to probable coyote predation.
Reported were Piping Plover with 28 pairs that fledged 8 chicks, all on North Core Banks.
Wilson’s Plover had a total of 75 pairs taken during the June census evenly distributed throughout the seashore. Fledgling numbers were not available.
The Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge staff and its partners monitor nesting of Least Terns, American Oystercatchers, Black Skimmers, and Piping Plovers on the refuge, said Sarah Toner, acting Refuge Manager, Pocosin Lakes NWR and the Visitor Services Manager.
She provided the following information.
Least Terns: The annual colony walk-through in early June recorded 119 nests and 1631 nests under construction (scrapes). A pair can have multiple scrapes before they settle down to one nest site. Because this annual walk-through provides only a snapshot in time, the numbers are not comparable with sites that count nests throughout the summer. So, no fledging numbers are available.
Black Skimmer: No nesting attempts this year.
American Oystercatcher: 6 pairs, of which 5 pairs produced a total of 14 nests. 1 nest hatched and had 1 fledgling. Nest losses were either unconfirmed (7) or coyote predation (7). Unconfirmed is usually due to a lack of sign to confirm what took the nest, such as weather conditions erasing the tracks of a predator. No nests were lost to storm events such as wind-blown sand or overwash.
Piping Plover: one pair produced a nest scrape but did not lay eggs.
Coyote predation was the primary cause of nesting failures, said Toner in an email communication, highlighting ongoing challenges in protecting vulnerable shorebird populations on the refuge.
Ocracoke Bird Notes
Karen Rhodes, Ocracoke’s superb photographer, ventures throughout the island on an almost daily basis. Many of her photographs can be seen on the Birds of Ocracoke Facebook page.
“As for the smaller birds this spring, it was pretty typical with nesting Orchard Orioles and Blue Grosbeaks,” she said. “But fall brought some nice rarities including a Western Kingbird and a Clay-colored Sparrow spotted at the pony pens.
Also, a Blue-winged Warbler in the Hammock Hills area. Matt Janson found an American Golden Plover on the beach, Nov. 21.”
Unfortunately, Ocracoke’s two fall raptor migration spotters, Jann and Gil Randell, were unable to make it to the island this fall.
On a high dune, north of the Pony Pasture, they have been counting and reporting on the birds of prey, i.e., hawks, falcons, eagles, ospreys and vultures, for many years, documenting the amazingly high number of these birds that pass through.