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What is the Mason Inlet Waterbird Management Area?

Mason Inlet is a naturally occurring waterway that separates the sandy barrier islands of Wrightsville Beach and Figure Eight Island. Inlets are dynamic features along the Carolina coast where sandy barrier islands separate the mainland from the ocean. North Carolina’s barrier islands can be seen as shifting ribbons of sand that move with the aid of wind and ocean currents. Barrier island inlets may open and close with a single storm event, or they may slowly migrate from one location to another.

Mason Inlet is a migrating inlet that marched south for over half a mile during the 1980s and ‘90s, removing entire dune habitats in the process. In its wake, new sandy habitats formed to the north, including large expanses of open sand flats that became perfect breeding and feeding habitat for Black Skimmers, Common Terns, Least Terns, Wilson’s Plover, and the endangered Piping Plover.

Black skimmer, © Walker Golder

In the winter of 2001-2002, dredges and other heavy equipment moved Mason Inlet 3,000 feet north to prevent damage to nearby buildings. Moving the inlet may have secured some buildings for people, but at the loss of once perfect habitat for nesting waterbirds. To offset this loss, a Mason Inlet Waterbird Management Plan was developed between New Hanover County, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, assuring protection of the critical nesting site. The result of that plan was the creation of a 300-acre bird sanctuary. The area’s sandy habitats include a mix of low dunes and exposed bare sand flats: the perfect breeding habitat for a variety of beach-nesting birds.

Read more about Mason Inlet in The North Carolina Birding Trail: Coastal Plain Guide (open the PDF file and go to site #3).

How do birds nest on the beach?
Most beach-nesting bird nests are simple depressions hollowed-out on the surface of bare sand. Eggs are laid in the bottom of the nest scrape and one or both parent birds may take turns incubating eggs or sheltering the young from sun and rain. Typical eggs of birds that nest on the beach have shells colored to blend with surrounding sand and bits of seashells. The simple nests and camouflaged eggs are hard to find by foxes, raccoons and other ground predators. However, eggs and nestling birds may be accidentally killed by careless footsteps.

Nesting on the beach is a challenge under the best of circumstances. Weather can be harsh and nests can be flooded by storms or extreme tides. Add to this the human induced changes of coastal development and beach stabilization, and the birds are having a tough time indeed.

Beach-nesters are extremely sensitive to human disturbance. Dogs and people running or walking through a nesting area can cause great damage without ever meaning to. When adult nesting birds take wing at the approach of danger, they leave their eggs and young exposed to the elements. On a hot summer day, even a few minutes of exposure to the sun is enough to kill an egg or young bird. Unprotected eggs and young are also vulnerable to predators including gulls and ghost crabs.

Waterbirds can also be harmed by small bits of indigestible plastics that they may mistake for food. Waterbirds are also killed and injured when they become caught in wads of fishing line. Tangled waterbirds may even entangle other birds when they drag the line into the colony.

Who manages Mason Inlet?
Audubon North Carolina manages the Mason Inlet Waterbird Management Area with support from New Hanover County and Wrightsville Beach. County ordinances prohibit people and dogs from trespassing inside the Mason Inlet Waterbird Management Area. Audubon’s role includes posting the nesting areas and providing staff to patrol the site and share helpful information to visitors about the value of this habitat and the birds that use it. Audubon also works with University of North Carolina at Wilmington researchers who monitor the Mason Inlet birds year-round.

Audubon North Carolina is dedicated to protecting the Mason Inlet Waterbird Management Area because this is habitat important for North Carolina’s waterbirds and shorebirds, and for people. Your respect for the closed areas will determine if our efforts to protect these birds will succeed. Please take a moment to share the wonder and beauty of these birds with friends and family. It is our greatest hope that our children’s children will have this same opportunity.

Do you offer guided tours of Mason Inlet?
Yes, Audubon North Carolina offers guided tours of Mason Inlet every Friday at 9 a.m. from April through September. For more information, click here.

For more information, contact:

Audubon North Carolina
Coastal Office and Sanctuaries
7741 Market Street, Unit D
Wilmington, NC 28411-9444
910.686.7527
910.686.7587 Fax