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Coastal Waterbird Program
Mass Audubon's Coastal Waterbird Program (CWP) is one of the most effective entities working to protect coastal birds and barrier beaches in New England. The CWP was launched in 1987 in response to declining populations of Piping Plovers and terns in Massachusetts, with the primary objective of protecting these species' nesting areas throughout the state. This is accomplished each year through cooperation with federal, state, and local governing bodies, private and public landowners, Mass Audubon members, and the public.
Since its first year, the program has successfully helped to recover the populations of Piping Plovers from 135 pairs in 1986 to at least 560 in 2008. Massachusetts is integral to the recovery of the federally threatened Atlantic Coast population of the Piping Plover, supporting roughly one-third of the breeding population. The program monitors at least 140 sites on the Massachusetts coastline, primarily on the South Shore, Buzzards Bay, Cape Cod, and the Islands.
CWP works to protect approximately:
- 50% of the state's federally threatened Piping Plovers,
- 60% of Massachusetts Least Terns,
- 20% of Massachusetts American Oystercatchers,
- Several nesting sites for Common Terns, and the
- Majority of critical sites for resting/staging pre-migratory Common and Roseate Terns.
 Although the primary focus of the program is the protection of the most threatened species of nesting birds, its mission is much broader. Today, the program advocates for the protection of the entire coastal ecosystem in as natural a state as possible. The program, therefore, works to protect the natural quality of the state's coastal beaches, salt marshes, and tidelands, which serves as habitats to 49 species of breeding birds and 112 species of migratory or wintering birds. The populations of many of these once common species, such as Sanderlings, have been declining dramatically in recent years and must be included in these protection efforts.
Threats
The number one threat to coastal birds is and continues to be habitat loss due to development. The coastal environment is already heavily developed and continues to be sought after for future development. The associated threats to coastal habitats increase every day. For coastal birds some of the primary threats are:
- Habitat Loss
- Increases in predator populations: Main predators for coastal birds include small mammals and various avian species, whose populations have "exploded" in the suburban environment of developed areas. The unnaturally high numbers of these predators present significant conservation concerns each year to coastal waterbird eggs and chicks.
- Off-road vehicles on beaches: In Massachusetts a growing number of individuals and families purchase permits to drive and park on beaches. Driving vehicles on these fragile beaches and tidelands can destroy nests, make their habitat unusable, and increase erosion.
- Erosion-control practices: Armoring beaches with rock, installing geo-tubes, building artificial dunes, and planting vegetation alter the natural beach environment and result in significant impacts to species such as the Piping Plover and the Least Tern, which only nest on flat, sparsely vegetated areas of beach.
- Human disturbance: With more people accessing formerly remote areas in vehicles, boats, and jet-skis, fewer places remain where birds can nest, forage for food, or rest. Disturbance significantly decreases birds' abilities to produce young and can also prevent birds from gaining the fat necessary to make long migrations.
- Over-harvesting of Horseshoe Crabs: The eggs of horseshoe crabs have long been an important source of food for a variety of shorebirds. Since the mid-1990s the harvest of horseshoe crabs for use as bait in the conch and eel fisheries has caused severe declines in local populations of this ancient creature. Their once abundant populations on the South Shore and Cape Cod have been reduced to one major spawning area in Chatham.
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