Lido Beach birds traveled up to 68 miles for food, tracking project finds

A shortage of fish in local waters may have sent birds nesting at Lido Beach on lengthy searches for food this summer, according to Audubon New York.

Researchers fitted 20 black skimmers with GPS transmitters and recorded journeys as far as 68 miles to New Jersey’s Gateway National Recreation Area.

The findings suggest the birds were responding to the availability of Atlantic menhaden, a bait fish that feeds skimmers and their chicks.

Town of Hempstead surveys found no menhaden locally early in the 2026 breeding season, Audubon reported. When the fish arrived between July 31 and Aug. 8, the birds shifted their feeding activity toward nearby bays.

One female, named Michelle after Michelle Obama, crossed Long Island Sound to Connecticut and searched near Babylon and the Bronx.

A male named Ronald, after Ronald Reagan, regularly traveled to New Jersey at night.

“Many of the longest trips occurred under the cover of darkness, between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m.,” Audubon reported.

Audubon said the early shortage may have affected chick survival at Lido Beach, home to Long Island’s largest black skimmer colony.

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Top: In this image provided by the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, a black skimmer flies about Rabbit Island in southwest Louisiana. (Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority via AP)