Colonial Waterbird Nesting Island Conservation

Coastal Texas offers one of the premier nesting grounds for colonial waterbirds in our country. Pelicans, roseate spoonbills, black skimmers, egrets, herons, terns and ibises nest on rookery islands, but they are vulnerable to a variety of threats, including:

Since 1973, the Texas Colonial Waterbird Society, a loose affiliation of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife, academic  institutions, and the Texas Audubon Society have annually taken censuses of nesting islands for colonial waterfowl. Today, the FWS Texas Coastal Program is coordinating the census, maintaining the database, and working with others to recommend, plan, fund and implement colonial waterbird restoration and protection activities. The three island projects described below illustrate nesting island conservation activities that have succeeded because of the dedicated and coordinated effort of many partners.

Little Pelican Island, located in Galveston Bay, was separated from a larger coastal island when the Intercoastal Waterway was created. Little Pelican Island became predator-free and attracted large numbers of roosting brown pelicans that  attempted nesting, but with minimal success. In 1994, the USFWS Texas Coastal Program, in cooperation with the Army Corps of Engineers, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and Houston Audubon Society, installed four signs on the island, advising boaters, fishermen and campers to avoid landing on the island during the nesting season. Signing proved to be the key ingredient in limiting human disturbance, and today, more than 1,200 brown pelicans nest on the island annually.

Sundown Island, initially created as a 45 acre dredge fill island near the Matagorda Ship Canal, and now managed as an Audubon Sanctuary, protects more than 18,000 nesting pairs of gulls, terns, skimmers, brown pelicans, roseate spoonbills and reddish egrets. However, wakes from large ships subject Sundown Island’s shoreline to severe erosion that threatens the nesting colonies. Therefore, Texas Audubon Society, with technical support and supplemental funding from the USFWS Texas Coastal Program, helped conduct restoration work to safeguard the nesting birds. Geotextile tubes were installed and dredge material was deposited to limit erosion, land was cleared to encourage bare-ground nesters, and trees were planted to provide roosting sites. Red imported fire-ants, which bite and kill chicks and severely impact reproductive success, were controlled with a hormone-based insecticide. Signs were also installed on the island and at other strategic locations to discourage human interference during the nesting season.

Shamrock Island--a natural nesting island near Corpus Christi hosting nesting reddish egrets, roseate spoonbills, royal terns, sandwich terns, and a dozen other species of colonial nesting waterfowl--is one of the most productive colonial water-bird nesting islands on the Texas coast. The island was purchased by The Nature Conservancy several years ago, with funds provides compensation for nearby natural resource damage. However, erosion from storm waves and the wakes of passing ships threatened to breach the island and destroy the nesting habitat. With participation and support from The Nature Conservancy and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Texas General Lands Office, working through the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, secured a USFWS National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Act grant to stabilize and enhance the nesting habitat. Four-thousand (4,000) feet of geotextile tubes were installed to limit erosion and protect the island. A feeder beach composed of dredge material was constructed in front of the geotextile tubes in order to provide beach nourishment for a nearby royal and sandwich tern nesting site. Inside the lagoon created by the geotextile tubes, dredge material was also deposited and planted with five acres of emergent marsh vegetation. This restoration project was completed in February, 1999 and partners expect that this important work will maintain Shamrock Island’s marvelous diversity of colonial nesting water-birds.

With a comprehensive and current colonial water-bird nesting island inventory available, and with experience gained on successful nesting island conservation projects, the USFWS Texas Coastal Program plans to continue working in partnerships with others to support future nesting island restoration and protection initiatives statewide.

Recent Projects

Back to Home Page