Fripp Island Birds
Over 80 species of birds reside on Fripp Island. Fripp Island birds travel from all over the country to visit the island during our warm summer season. The birds love Fripp so much that the National Audubon society named Fripp Island an Important Bird Area.
Some of the species you can view at Fripp are:
- Osprey
- White Ibis
- Red Throated Loon
- Black Skimmer
- Double Crested Cormorant
- Scoter
- Old Squaw
- Great Blue Heron
Visit the South Carolina Audubon Society for more information.
Get the Audubon Bird Guide App
Want to learn more about bird species on Fripp? Check out a list of the birds seen on Fripp Island.
Want to be a better beach goer to shorebirds? #ShareTheShore by respecting posted signs about nesting and other off-limits areas and keep your pet leashed whenever you’re near birds.
Playful dogs want everyone involved in the fun, but their antics can wreak havoc on shorebird colonies in a matter of seconds. Birds like these Least Terns perceive dogs as predators, even if the dogs aren’t chasing them.
Least Tern with chick. 📷: Jim Verhagen/Audubon Photography Awards
Going to the beach this #LaborDay? Here’s why if you’re planning to bring your canine companion with you, don`t forget to #ShareTheShore!
For most of our coastal birds in North America, human disturbance is one of their biggest threats. That`s any activity that causes an individual or group of shorebirds to alter their normal behavior—and that includes bringing along our canine companions. To birds, people look like predators and our dogs even more so.
"There’s a place for everyone at the beach—including our furry friends—but we need to work together to ensure every creature stays safe out there, especially those that call the shore home," says Audubon`s Elizabeth Muñoz Huber.
Today we`re celebrating all wildlife, like our shorebirds, on #NationalWildlifeDay—so tap the link in our bio to learn how small actions like leashing our pets go a long way in protecting them.
Populations of Least Terns—like this adult and chick—are endangered in many areas because of human impacts on nesting areas, especially competition for the use of beaches. 📷: Jim Verhagen/Audubon Photography Awards
“My job... is just beach.” - Westken snowy plover
Western snowy plovers are all about beach! Until September, these small, sparrow-sized shorebirds are hard at work incubating eggs and caring for their chicks. You can safely share the shore with these threatened birds by:
- Give wildlife space: do not approach or chase these birds.
- Respect all posted signs and roped-off areas for the protection of wildlife.
- Avoid prolonged picnicking or sunbathing in plover nesting habitat (dry sand areas above the wrack line).
- Walk on the wet hard-packed sand below the wrack line to avoid nesting habitat.
- Camp or build fires only in designated areas.
- If you’re on a beach that allows vehicles, drive ‘low and slow’, staying on the hard-packed sand below the high tide line where plovers forage.
- Avoid driving over old vehicle or foot tracks as plovers like to rest or “loaf” in these and are extremely hard to see.
- Avoid flying kites or other hovering objects near plover nesting habitat.
- Please dispose of all trash properly and do not inadvertently or intentionally feed wildlife.
- Know beach-specific dog rules before you go. If dogs are permitted, please follow the leash rules.
Thank you in advance!
🎨 by Rebecca Fabbri/USFWS
The way that male Piping Plovers defend their territories resembles a game of chase—in this “parallel-run display,” they’ll typically face each other while individuals run forward then stop, chasing each other until there’s no more room, then running back to where they started.
Piping Plovers are considered an endangered or threatened species in all parts of their range—and many of their nesting areas are subject to human disturbance or other threats.
You can help protect them and other shorebirds and wildlife the next time you’re at the beach by remembering to #ShareTheShore. 🏖
A video of Piping Plovers chasing each other. 📹: Sean Graesser (gourmetbiologist)
A Fling of Sandpipers! Don`t forget to #sharetheshore if you go to the beach this holiday weekend. Tiny birds the size of cotton balls may be nesting/foraging where you lay your blanket or set off fireworks. Look at signage, stay away from conservation areas, and have fun! 🌊
Happy birthday to Theodore Emery (wind.and.wing)- fellow Plover Lover and all-around wonderful human! 🐣
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#WesternSnowyPlover #SnowyPlover #sharetheshore #nuts_about_nature #wildlife_inspired #birds_adored #eye_spy_birds #eye_spy_birds_women #nuts_about_conservation #bird #wildlife #birdstagram #featured_wildlife #naturephotography #ig_nature #nature_perfection #nuts_about_birds #pocket_birds #bb_of_ig #bns_birds #bestoftheusa_birds #women_wildlife_photography #shorebirds_habitat
NYC beaches open tomorrow! This will be a welcome relief, but please remember to keep clear of young shorebirds and off-limits nesting areas. (Yes, we`re glaring at your unleashed dog.) Our nesting shorebirds are already so vulnerable, especially the endangered piping plover, seen here in Breezy Point, and American oystercatchers. There’s plenty of room for everyone. #sharetheshore
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📷: chrisallieri
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#pipingplover #plover #oystercatcher #shorebirds
When audubon_fl shorebird coordinator Kylie Wilson (khelene94) came across Least Terns nesting on South Lido Beach in June—where they hadn’t previously been—she knew it was going to be a busy summer.
From hurricanes to fireworks, banding chicks to moving colonies, Kylie sat down to talk more about her action-packed summer monitoring sea and shorebirds as a bird biologist for Audubon Florida. Given the breadth of her experience, she has plenty of wisdom on how beachgoers can leave a smaller footprint and #ShareTheShore with nesting birds. 🏖️
To read the full interview with Kylie, tap the link in our bio.
1️⃣ - An Audubon staff member holding two banded Least Tern chicks. This photo was taken in compliance with state and federal research permits.
2️⃣ - Kylie Wilson (right) and an Audubon volunteer band Least Tern chicks. This photo was taken in compliance with state and federal research permits.
hello, world 🥹
#pipingplover #chicagopipingplovers chicagopipingplovers #greatlakespipingplover #glpipl #plover #plovers #endangeredspecies #conservation #sharetheshore #saveshorebirds #shorebird #wader #bird #birds #birdphotography #birding #birdwatching #audubon #audubonsociety #chicagobirdalliance #illinoisbirdingnetwork #chicagobirder #urbanbirding
Last week, as Green Bay, Wisconsin, geared up to host the 2025 NFL Draft, another long-awaited homecoming had locals buzzing—the return of the Great Lakes Piping Plovers. Most notably “Ms. Packer,” a federally endangered Great Lakes Piping Plover, returned to her nesting grounds. 💚
It was cause for celebration. That`s because in April 2024, she had returned to the site for what would have been her seventh breeding season but mysteriously vanished after about two weeks and was not seen again in 2024.
This year she`s been joined by two other Piping Plovers, including a male she`s paired with. And she`s already nesting!
Learn more about the work AudubonGreatLakes is doing to protect these endangered Piping Plovers—and what you can you do help them out this coming breeding season by tapping the link in our bio.
Ms. Packer on her first egg of this season. 📷: Logan Lasee (Note: This photo was taken as part of a monitoring project—remember to #ShareTheShore and give them their space by observing from a distance.)
The Fripp Island Resort offers two Birding Nature Tours. Please follow the link below to view the availible tours and scheduling information.
