Each month we feature one of the 97 IBAs (Important Bird Area) in North Carolina. This month we are showcasing the unique habitats of the Beacon Island IBA. This post is written by Audubon North Carolina’s Biological Technician Maria Logan.

In addition to being home to North Carolina's oldest pelican colony, Beacon Island has played significant and varied roles over the last few centuries. In the early 1900s there was a hunting camp on the island, but prior to that, the island was of military importance. At least one account describes fortifications on the island as early as 1795, and the island was home to Fort Ocracoke, a Confederate fort. The Confederates abandoned the fort after Union victories on Cape Hatteras, and the Union razed the fort in the fall of 1861.

Today, Beacon Island offers precious habitat to hundreds of nesting Brown Pelicans as well as American Oystercatchers, Black-crowned Night Herons, Laughing Gulls, Clapper Rails and more.

Beacon Island is located about 4.5 miles by boat from the village of Ocracoke. A typical survey during nesting season begins with me hopping in the boat and navigating the shoals and channels between Ocracoke Island and Portsmouth Island. My excursions are hardly solitary. Bottlenose dolphins, loggerhead sea turtles, jumping mullets, diamondback terrapins, Royal Terns and fast underwater creatures I have yet to identify (other than by saying “That was big, whatever it was!”) navigate the channels too.

A right turn at Beacon Channel leads me to an island full of life. Hundreds of sturdy Brown Pelican nests sit atop the grass-covered ground. Some hold three large, white eggs. Others have tiny, pinkish-gray, featherless chicks that look more like aliens from Mars rather than anything that could develop into the majestic pelican we love so dearly! Fortunately, they grow out of that awkward stage and turn into spectacular, graceful creatures that I never get tired of observing.

In the 1700s, Beacon Island was over 20 acres. It is much smaller now and continues to crumble into the Pamlico Sound with each storm surge. (Read this blog post to learn about what is being done to slow this process.) This season was particularly difficult for birds that  nest directly on the ground like the American Oystercatcher. There were several storm and wind events resulting in island flooding and the Oystercatchers were unsuccessful at hatching any chicks on Beacon. Hopefully next nesting season will prove successful for the oystercatchers and spring tides, ill-timed storms, and high winds will be less destructive.

But despite the oystercatchers’ hardship this year, the pelicans are thriving, a testament to the importance of this month’s Import Bird Area. Over 300 Pelican chicks have already fledged on Beacon Island, and a few more new pink hatchlings are still in nests.