Florida is renowned for its striking wading birds. More than a dozen species make their home here, from the Snowy Egret to the pink-plumed Roseate Spoonbill to the Tricolored Heron. Beloved by locals, these birds also draw visitors from across the globe looking to get a glimpse of their colorful plumage.
Not only are these birds an important part of the economy, they’re also key indicators of ecological health. Wading birds depend on healthy wetlands, coastlines, and the Everglades for their survival.
“Wading birds tell us when the Everglades are healthy,” explains Kelly Cox, director of Everglades policy at Audubon Florida, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of birds. “When they’re in the right place at the right times of the year in the right numbers, we know that we’re getting the water right in the Everglades. If wading birds can successfully raise chicks, it’s likely that other species that depend on the Everglades are going to be healthy too.”
Wading bird populations have faced their fair share of challenges in Florida throughout history. In the 1800s, many species of wading birds were hunted almost to extinction for the sake of women’s fashion. The birds’ colorful feathers were collected and used as adornments for hats. “There was one point in U.S. history when feathers from wading birds were more valuable than gold per ounce,” says Cox. The decimation caused by the plume trade precipitated the creation of Audubon Florida.
In the 1900s, urban and agricultural development of the Everglades significantly impacted wading bird populations. Water control efforts drastically changed South Florida’s landscape, destroying their habitats. Dredging canals and plumbing out water from the Everglades eliminated floodplains and sloughs—foraging areas for wading birds—and interfered with the natural flow of water that the birds depended on for successful breeding conditions.
“Wading birds can’t wade in a 15-foot canal,” explains Cox. “They have no way to catch prey in that type of environment. As a result of that, we started to see their populations really decline.”
Everglades restoration projects, which began in full force around 2000, have helped many of Florida’s wading bird species recover. “We’ve already started to see measurable benefits from returning those water flows to as close to we can get to the way Mother Nature designed it,” affirms Cox.
A prime example of this success is the Kissimmee River Restoration Project. In the 1960s, the Kissimmee River was channelized by cutting and dredging a 30-foot-deep canal, which eliminated a floodplain and destroyed the ecosystem. Ninety percent of the area’s wading bird population disappeared. “We just wrapped up the restoration of that river, and the number of birds that have returned to that area is unbelievable,” enthuses Cox. “It confirms our theory that if you give the wading birds a chance, they will come back. But it has to be under the right ecological conditions.”
A recent initiative in Broward and Palm Beach counties will improve the habitat that these birds need while also safeguarding water quality for the people of South Florida.
In May of this year, the South Florida Water Management District and the Army Corps of Engineers broke ground on the North Phase of the Central Everglades Planning Project (CEPP), a restoration initiative that will restore water levels in the Central Everglades, bring more water south to replenish Everglades National Park, and send fresh water to Florida Bay.
“In general, we have really limited the ability of water to flow south into Everglades National Park, and subsequently Florida Bay,” explains Cox. “That water flow has been so stifled that in some parts of Florida Bay, we’ve seen hypersaline conditions because there’s not enough fresh water.” When water is hypersaline, it’s saltier than typical seawater, making it difficult for fish and seagrass—which wading birds feed on—to survive.
CEPP North will include the construction of seven new structures and one new canal as well as the improvement of 18 miles of canals already in operation. The North Phase is expected to be completed by 2029.
The other two phases of CEPP are the South and New Water phases, which are already underway. CEPP is a key part of the joint state-federal partnership to restore America’s Everglades, known as the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan. “Everglades restoration is the largest ecosystem restoration project in the entire world,” confirms Cox.
Wading birds are the measure of success for these projects. Every year, the South Florida Water Management District—the primary agency charged with overseeing Everglades restoration—puts out a Wading Bird Report in collaboration with Audubon Florida. The report includes data on the birds’ nesting behavior throughout the Everglades. The greater the number of nests and hatchlings, the better the birds are doing. In 2021, the Everglades experienced its second-highest nesting effort for many wading bird species in 80 years.
“Conditions are improving for wading birds across the Everglades, which suggests that Everglades restoration is helping,” says Cox. “It’s improving foraging conditions for wading birds, which leads to increased nesting, but there’s still a lot to do.”
Currently in the planning stage is the Biscayne Bay Southeastern Everglades Ecosystem Restoration Project, which focuses on Broward and Miami Dade counties with the goal of restoring habitats and increasing treatment capacity to help move more water south. “Biscayne Bay, which has been plagued by algae blooms and hypersaline conditions, has a big opportunity to benefit from this project,” says Cox.
For more information on South Florida’s wading birds and Everglades restoration, check out fl.audubon.org/conservation/everglades.