From Audubon Florida
In Summary:
Audubon Florida's Everglades Research Station reported stronger Roseate Spoonbill nesting results this year, monitoring 244 nests across 22 active colonies in Florida Bay. Researchers documented a 66% nesting success rate and an average of 1.2 chicks per nest, encouraging signs for a species considered an important indicator of the Everglades ecosystem's health. The organization is also asking birdwatchers across Florida to report banded spoonbill sightings to help scientists better understand the birds' movements and population trends.
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Across Florida Bay, the Audubon Everglades Research Station team kayaked, boated, and hiked through mangroves to monitor 244 Roseate Spoonbill nests in 22 active colonies.
- 157 nests fledged at least one chick
- 1.2 chicks produced per nest
- 66% success rate
What is the Audubon Everglades Research Station?
The Audubon Everglades Research Station (ERS) was established in the Florida Keys in 1939 by the National Audubon Society's first director of research, Robert Porter Allen. Allen began a full-time study of the Roseate Spoonbill, living among them in a tent for weeks at a time. At the time, scientists typically studied birds’ feeding habits by killing them and examining their stomach contents. However, the spoonbill was so scarce that Allen had to find another way to study them. His research changed how scientists studied birds and created a legacy of more than 85 years of data investigating the spoonbill and its habitat.
Related: A newly rediscovered moth species in Florida may already be at risk.
Today, ERS researchers continue to study the behavior and nesting success of the iconic spoonbill, as well as freshwater flow into Florida Bay and the impacts of water diversion throughout the Everglades ecosystem. Our experiments link changes in freshwater flow to changes in plants growing under the water and subsequent loss of small fish. These fish are vital parts of the ecosystem, forming the food base for many higher predators, including game fishes, crocodilians, wading birds, and birds of prey.
Opportunity to Help Roseate Spoonbill Science
Staff at ERS conduct weekly surveys of Roseate Spoonbill colonies in Florida Bay during nesting season to get nesting and general population data. Two of the colonies have been monitored for 30 years. In 2003, Audubon scientists began applying leg bands to chicks in nests in Florida Bay and in Tampa Bay at the Richard T. Paul Alafia Bank Bird Sanctuary, leased from and managed in collaboration with Mosaic and Port Tampa Bay. In 2013, staff also began banding birds hatching from nests at St. Augustine Alligator Farm. In total, Audubon has banded about 3,000 Roseate Spoonbills, which are considered an indicator species of the Everglades ecosystem's health. Banding spoonbill chicks has led to a greater understanding of dispersal rates and behavioral structures after the nesting season in Florida Bay.
The ERS team is calling on bird enthusiasts across the state to search for Roseate Spoonbills and report banded birds on this form.
Each band resight will win a special sticker and contribute to critical population data for this iconic Florida species.
“Every banded spoonbill someone reports adds a data point we'd otherwise never get, and those resights add up fast, multiplying our efforts,” explains ERS Director Bryant Dossman. “They're one of the best tools we have for figuring out where these birds go and how their populations are doing, effectively extending our reach and giving everyone an opportunity to make a difference for conservation.”
Key Points:
• Audubon researchers monitored 244 Roseate Spoonbill nests in 22 active colonies throughout Florida Bay during the 2026 nesting season.
• A total of 157 nests successfully fledged at least one chick, resulting in a 66% nesting success rate and an average of 1.2 chicks produced per nest.
• The Audubon Everglades Research Station has been studying Roseate Spoonbills since 1939, creating one of the longest-running bird research datasets in Florida.
• Since 2003, Audubon scientists have banded approximately 3,000 Roseate Spoonbills to track movements, survival rates, and population trends throughout the state.
• Audubon is encouraging birdwatchers to report sightings of banded spoonbills, helping researchers collect valuable data that supports conservation and Everglades restoration efforts.
Audubon Florida protects birds and the places they need, today and tomorrow. Audubon works throughout the Americas using science, advocacy, education, and on-the-ground conservation. State programs, nature centers, chapters, and partners give Audubon an unparalleled wingspan, reaching millions of people each year to inform, inspire, and unite diverse communities in conservation action. A nonprofit conservation organization since 1900, Audubon believes in a world in which people and wildlife thrive.
