Earlier this May, Surfrider Foundation joined a vibrant community of birders, conservationists, and coastal stewards at the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival in Homer, Alaska — a world-renowned spring-time stopover for thousands of migrating shorebirds. This annual event, co-sponsored by Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges and the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, brings in hundreds of people from across the country and beyond to celebrate the arrival of dozens of species of migratory shorebirds. We were invited to present about the deep connections between healthy shorelines and healthy bird populations through a series of interactive and educational events that brought our mission-driven work to new audiences.
Where Birds Meet the Beach
At Surfrider, we like to talk about how the ocean connects us all. The same argument could be made about shorebirds. While not the flashiest of birds, these incredible critters are known for making epic flights across entire ocean basins, continents, and even hemispheres. They require healthy ocean and coastal ecosystems throughout their migratory flyways to fatten up and stay fueled during their legendary journeys. As such, they can be powerful indicators of diminishing and damaged coastal habitats, and we're seeing significant drops in shorebird populations around the world.
As a recovering wildlife biologist and avid birder, I was so stoked to combine two of my favorite things - nerding out on some birds and advocating for coastal protection on behalf of Surfrider. While our work at Surfrider isn’t often animal-oriented, the Venn diagram between our work and shorebird conservation is basically a circle.
Each year, the festival designates its Bird of the Year, and this year’s was - no joke - the Surfbird! Pictured here, four plump surfbirds chilling on some rocks at the entrance to the Port of Homer
Plastic pollution, coastal development, and climate change pose serious threats to birds
In our featured talk, "Where Birds Meet the Beach," I presented on how our programmatic and advocacy work intersects with shorebird protection. For example, shorebirds are particularly vulnerable to plastic pollution. Species with oceanic flyways have higher concentrations of plastics in their systems than those that migrate over land. Those that feed in coastal areas - beaches, estuaries, and wetlands - also have more plastics inside them than those that feed in freshwater or inland habitats. Researchers have coined the term “plasticosis” to describe the scarring of birds’ stomachs after ingesting plastics, which can lead to dementia-like symptoms as well as organ failure, starvation, and death (De Jersey et al. 2025). The vast majority of plastic found in birds is ‘user’ plastics, aka the everyday single-use items that we are constantly removing from beaches and working to ban (Flemming et al., 2022). It was great to be able to highlight how Surfrider programs like our beach cleanups and Ocean Friendly Businesses are for the birds (in a good way).
I also highlighted our Coast & Climate work through the lens of coastal development and its impacts on shore nesting species. As we continue to develop our coasts and armor our shorelines against rising seas, we remove more and more vital habitat. While we tend to project the effects of sea level rise decades into the future, when these habitats are constantly flooded, it only takes one storm event to drown a nest. This means that shorebirds will suffer population collapses far sooner than previously thought (de Pol et al., 2024). This highlights the value of efforts like our Climate Action Program, not just in protecting beach access and vulnerable infrastructure, but in ensuring birds have a place to rest, refuel, nest, and rear young.
In addition to plastics and habitat loss, another serious threat to shorebirds is global warming. One of the lectures I attended was a researcher sharing the impacts of the 2014-2016 marine heatwave - the same ‘heat blob’ that devastated our marine life here in Washington. This heatwave killed an estimated 4 million Common Murres - roughly one half to three quarters of the entire population - “the largest documented wildlife mortality event in the modern era” (Renner et al. 2024). There is no evidence that these populations have recovered, indicating a shift in the entire ecosystem.
Despite those awkwardly big legs, this Wilson’s Plover chick can’t outrun sea level rise (Photo by Ray Hennessy on Unsplash)
Beach Walk & Talk: A Naturalist Tour of Bishop's Beach
While I do love a good lecture, it’s way more fun to show than tell, and I was excited to move beyond the PowerPoint and lead a guided beach walk to show people the interconnected world of wrack lines, tide pools, and sandy beaches. I described how birds utilize these habitat mosaics to feed, roost, and nest, and we had some great discussions about how our daily behaviors impact birds, as well as the importance of stewarding our shared coastlines.
Our beach walk turned into a cleanup as well as a birding adventure
To close out the shorebird festival, we hosted a competitive beach cleanup on Homer Spit. Armed with gloves, bags, and excellent bird-themed team names, volunteer teams combed the beach in a timed challenge to remove as much debris as possible. We gave out Kenai Peninsula Chapter Shorebird Festival swag to winners with the smallest, the heaviest, and the weirdest objects.
Some of the fun finds - an intact jalapeño; a Seattle ferry ticket; a cool wooden halibut-shaped sign that may or may not be hanging up in my house now; and a yellow rope! Plus the usual assortment of single-use plastic packaging, cigarette butts, and plastic and foam fragments.
Other highlights
There were so many great lectures and fun activities for all ages, from art workshops to field trips to ambassador bird meet-and-greets. Some of my favorites included Bird Trivia at a local bar, where one of my random teammates also happened to run Homer’s BEACH Program. There was also a bird calling contest, with some truly impressive (and absurd) contestants. It seemed like everywhere I went, I struck up conversations with folks rockin’ binoculars, and each one of them proved to be a valuable partner in the fight to protect and enjoy our ocean, waves, beaches, and the birds we share them with.
Some truly impressive (and occasionally absurd) bird calls at the highly anticipated bird calling contest at the Homer Brewery
One thing I love about birding festivals is the passion birders bring to their hobby. I challenge you to find a more dedicated group of people, or one that generates more community-science data! With tools developed by Cornell Lab, it is easier than ever to contribute to a global database that tracks what birds are where and when. These data are critical in understanding how birds are responding to climate change (nesting earlier, moving to higher elevations, etc), as well as when and where they are migrating so that we can do things like turn off our lights or pause wind turbines during peak migration. I had the pleasure of meeting and hanging out with Cornell Laboratory’s Team Sapsucker while they were in the midst of a 20-hour Big Day bird survey.
A mixed flock of shorebirds - short-billed dowitchers and western sandpipers - sifting through the kelp at low tide, fueling up for the next leg on their migration northward
Shorebirds are badass
Shorebirds are not flashy. They are mostly brown, borderline impossible to tell apart, and are often foraging far out on mudflats, making it challenging to get close enough to see them, let alone ID them. And they’re only in town for a fleeting few days, maybe a week or two, before moving on to their next destination. So why so many shorebird festivals?
Because they are elite athletes capable of mindblowing migrations that require extreme physical adaptations (like shrinking and growing organs or doubling their body weight), impressive feats of navigation, and the ability to overcome seemingly infinite challenges - weathering storms, getting shot at, dodging windows and wind turbines, avoiding feral cats and stray dogs in addition to their many natural predators, and myriad other challenges. For more information on the perils faced by migrating shorebirds, check out the excellent PBS documentary Flyways.
For the record in non-stop migratory flight, the Bar-Tailed Godwit flies over 7500 miles between Alaska and New Zealand in just over a week with no stops for food, water, or rest. One tagged Godwit is known to be at least 15 years old, meaning over the years, she’s flown a distance equivalent to flying to the moon.
What do surfers and Arctic terns have in common? The pursuit of an endless summer. Arctic terns make the longest migration of any animal on earth, flying the round trip 44,000 miles between the Arctic and the southern tip of South America each year, essentially following summer across the hemispheres. This means that in the course of their 30+ year lifespan, they fly three round-trip flights to the moon and back. Apparently they experience more daylight than any other animal on earth. Found my new soulcritter.
Looking Ahead
Huge thanks to the organizers of the Kachemak Shorebird Festival for inviting us to be part of this unique and inspiring event. Shorebird conservation is coastal conservation, and Surfrider is proud to stand at the intersection of both. Whether you’re a birder, a surfer, a beachcomber, or simply someone who loves the coast, stay stoked knowing we are all working together for a cleaner, healthier, and more resilient shoreline for all beings, feathered or not.
A cleanup volunteer posing with his new KCP Surfrider swag after bringing in some winning debris
Love birds? Here are some ways you can support them:
- Use less plastic, and come to a beach cleanup (or do a solo cleanup)!
- Keep your cat indoors - outdoor cats kill over 2.5 billion birds in the US and Canada each year
- Turn off outdoor lights at night
- Participate in community and citizen science efforts like eBird
- Treat your windows to be bird-friendly
- If you have a yard, replace your lawn with native species
- Buy bird-friendly, shade-grown coffee
- Keep your dog on a leash around nesting and resting birds (and pick up after your pooch to protect coastal water quality)
- Support coastal conservation that prioritizes the protection of beaches, wetlands, marshes, and other vital habitats
- Fight back against federal cuts to agencies like NOAA and the EPA, and programs like the National Estuarine Research Reserves and National Wildlife Refuges, and other agencies and programs charged with the protection of our public lands
You can find more info on 10 Ways to Help Birds here.
No trip to Alaska is complete without a picture of some sea otters.