Protected bird nesting site on Outer Banks is covered in tire tracks, smashed signs
A protected seabird nesting site on the Outer Banks was breached by one or more drivers who ran down warning signs and plowed through the sand, according to the National Park Service.
The restricted zone was set up to protect nests built built by American oystercatchers, a species of “high conservation concern” at Cape Lookout National Seashore.
At least three nests were “disturbed” during the vandalism April 10 on the South Core Banks, the park service told McClatchy News.
Photos shared by the park service show the culprits snapped buffer zone signs that directed drivers around the 600-foot-long area.
“Well, somebody didn’t see the bright yellow signs on the beach,” park officials wrote on Facebook. “This vehicle took out three of the buffer zone signs marking several American oystercatcher nest protection zones as they drove down the beach. ... Our rangers are looking for information on the vehicle (or vehicles) and the person(s) driving them.”
The nest protection zones were created in early April, with signs directing 4x4 drivers around potential eggs in the sand. The zones forbid “stopping, surf fishing or camping,” the park wrote on Facebook. (Driving on the beach is allowed in the area, “below the high tide line,” officials said.)
American oystercatchers are a “high priority shorebird species with high conservation concern,” according to the National Park Service. The birds face ongoing threats from “human encroachment and habitat loss,” experts say.
“The American Oystercatcher is a large, unmistakable shorebird found along coastal salt marshes and sand beaches,” the park service reports.
“The eastern population of birds was abundant until the late 1800’s when they are thought to have been extirpated (made locally extinct) in much of the region as a result of over-zealous market hunting and egg collecting.”
This story was originally published April 19, 2021 at 10:31 AM with the headline "Protected bird nesting site on Outer Banks is covered in tire tracks, smashed signs."