Our Gulf Coast Program seeks to lessen the impact of threats to birds by conserving and stewarding the habitats most vital to shorebirds, mitigating trash pollution, and promoting bird-friendly practices. Started in the wake of a major oil spill, the Gulf Coast Program focuses on beach-nesting birds. Birds like the Black Skimmer and Snowy Plover are vulnerable during the nesting season. Beachfront development, sea level rise, extreme weather events, interactions with humans and our pets, and threats from predators can all affect nest success. Our team works collaboratively with partners along the Gulf Coast to protect and monitor target species in an effort to bring back beach-nesting birds.
Our work isn’t limited to the beach, though. We work with communities to mitigate threats and make the places they live safer for birds and other wildlife. Through Bird City Texas, we promote measures such as bird-friendly building practices, habitat enhancement by replacing non-native plants with native species, and attainment of environmental designations that help conserve the most important habitats for birds. This work has earned the city of Galveston the highest status within Bird City Network: High-Flyer status. In the Houston-Galveston area, the ABC-supported program Stopping Plastics and Litter Along Shorelines (SPLASh) hosts regular cleanups, education, and outreach events that engage people in caring for the places they love — and the birds that need them.
ABC’s Gulf Coast Program benefits from collaborations with many partners, who come together to conserve birds along the Gulf Coast. Our partners include:
- Audubon Delta/National Audubon Society
- Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge
- Coastal Bend Bays and Estuaries Program
- Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, Florida
- Galveston Park Board of Trustees
- Gulf Coast Bird Observatory
- Houston Audubon
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Alabama Ecological Field Services
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Coastal Program Texas
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration Field Office
- City of Freeport, Texas
- City of Port Aransas, Texas
- Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Recreation and Parks
- Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
- Florida Shorebird Alliance
- Grand Isle State Park
- Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
- Lower Colorado River Authority
- Matagorda Nature Park
- Texas General Land Office
- Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
- Town of Grand Isle, Louisiana
