Man on scooter hits, kills bird while driving near protected colony

Each night, accompanied by a camera, Robert Truesdell documents the flocks of birds that reside on Redington Beach.

As the summer progresses, more birds and their babies join the group, finding safety in numbers. The fledglings have to look out for crows, seagulls, and on the rare occasion, coyotes or snakes.

But last Friday, it was not a natural predator that Truesdell recorded bothering the colony of birds, and ultimately killing one. Instead, it was a man on an electric scooter.

According to an Indian Shores Police Department report, the man drove through the birds’ nesting site at a “high rate of speed.” Truesdell provided the video to police, showing the man driving his scooter over a bird.

The video shows the bird flailing in the sand, and later the bird’s wing bent unnaturally.

The man ran over a royal tern fledgling, said Holley Short, the Tampa Bay Shorebird Project Manager. It was likely born this year, she said.

Truesdell said the man had been driving up and down the beach. He told police the man appeared to drive intentionally through the birds.

Police remained on scene, but did not see the man again that night. The following morning, police found the bird dead, the report stated.

Police were still working to identify the man, according to the report. Police had not made an arrest as of Wednesday afternoon. The report states he could face a third-degree felony charge of animal cruelty.

The man also violated a local ordinance that prohibits motorized vehicles, including electric scooters, on beaches. A sign posted near the entrance of the beach by the Indian Shores Police Department warns violators could be cited and fined up to $500.

Royal terns are a type of sleek water bird that lay their eggs and raise their young on offshore islands. They typically fly to the main beaches where black skimmers, another type of coastal bird, have set up their colonies each year. Like the skimmers, terns are raising their young and getting ready to migrate to their non-breeding areas.

The black skimmers, identified by their dark bodies and exaggerated overbites, arrive in April like clockwork each year. They look for large areas of open beach where they can lay their eggs and raise their fledglings.

The Audubon Society in Florida works with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to block off the section of the beach where black skimmers lay their eggs because the species is considered by the state to be imperiled. There are also signs stating “chick crossing” for when the birds are old enough to move around more.

The royal tern is not protected by the state, though federal law protects the bird under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, Short said.

During high traffic times or during major holidays, the Audubon Society has volunteers staged near the colony of birds to educate people on them. More often than not, when people bother the birds, they do so unintentionally, Short said.

“Once they learn, they’re more than happy to help the birds and move away,” Short said. “It’s rare that there is such a disturbance like this, where a bird or chick is injured or killed.”

Through his camera lens, Truesdell has a front seat to nature. The 74-year-old has seen the little birds’ triumphs — from spreading their wings to catching their own food — to some of their greatest failures.

“It’s the coolest thing in the world, watching the little birds grow up,” Truesdell said. “Some of it’s heartbreaking, but it’s nature.”

Truesdell, along with photographing the birds, is also a volunteer for the Audubon Society. He has his own tricks for dealing with people who unknowingly disturb the birds.

He keeps framed photos of the baby birds. On the back, he describes the birds and their little eccentricities. When he wants to tug at people’s compassion, Truesdell will hand them out to people in need of extra education.

“You sit back and watch nature,” he said. “You don’t get involved.”