Refuge provides highlights of monthly biology activities
J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge biological science technician Avery Renshaw recently reported on the Sanibel refuge’s following biology activities for the month of January.
While her survey route at the refuge got rained out, Renshaw did participate in the annual, nationwide 2023 Christmas Bird Count (CBC) at the Florida Panther and the Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuges, which — along with the Sanibel refuge — are part of the Southwest Florida Refuges Complex. The CBC is a mass, collective effort each winter to count the number of birds observed across North America at a given time.
At the Florida Panther refuge, the crew counted more than 2,000 American robins flying over their particular route, which only covers a portion of the refuge. At the Ten Thousand Islands refuge, CBC participants collectively counted 21,913 individual birds during the count window. They tallied over 5,000 tree swallows and 1,000 white ibis, short-billed dowitchers and American white pelicans.