Wading birds repopulating Everglades in near-record numbers

A positive sign for Southwest Florida’s environment: The population of wading birds in the Everglades is soaring to near-record numbers.

Wading birds going about their business in our swamps may not seem like a spectacular sight, but experts say we’re lucky to see them.

“The biggest threat to wading birds in the Everglades [was] plume hunting,” said Dr. Shawn Clem, director of research at Audubon’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.

Clem says the birds were nearly hunted to extinction for their feathers, but the Audubon Society stepped in to protect them. And the fight still isn’t done.

“As we began to develop in the Everglades, you know, the draining and filling of the Everglades, the disruption of the hydrology has, in most recent years, been the threat that we’re trying to work to undo,” Clem said.

Water is the lifeblood of Corkscrew Swamp and the Everglades. Water flow alterations in the last century proved catastrophic not only for water quality and supply but for local wildlife. The bird population dwindled as ours rose, but the situation today is better than before.

“2021 was a great year for wading bird nesting in the Everglades,” Clem said.

In fact, 2021 was the second-highest nesting season in 80 years for many of the bird species. With approximately 102,000 nests, it was more than twice the 10-year average..

“Every time we see a good year, it’s, you know, something to cheer about,” Clem said. “And especially in light of Everglades restoration, when we know that we’re in the middle of this restoration work, and we get the rainfall that we need, and the system behaves the way it should. And we see the birds respond, and we know we’re doing something right.”

Everglades restoration is about getting the timing and distribution of water right, and these birds are our metric of success. Clem also points out that we often think about water for agriculture, industry and people, but we sometimes neglect to consider the wider environment.