Critical nesting grounds are washing away. Researchers hope to turn the tide.
, swarms of nesting waterbirds covered the small sliver of land in the middle of the Bay of Corpus Christi. Now, however, the island is mostly bare. Nesting season is typically March to August for herons, skimmers, as well as for the white-faced ibis and the reddish egret — both of which Texas classifies as threatened species.
This research is critical. Without it, the birds and the islands could disappear. Human-caused climate change is raising sea levels and increasing the severity of Gulf Coast hurricanes. Pieces of island are washing away, one wave at a time. A flock of black skimmers flies over a sandy shoreline on Shamrock Island near Port Aransas. Erosion due to climate change and other factors has affected the shoreline where many birds nest.Reminders of the oil and gas industry adorn Shamrock Island. Before it was a preserve, it was just another piece of the mainland, utilized as a tank battery for storage.
A brown pelican flies over Shamrock Island near Port Aransas. Erosion due to climate change and other factors has affected the shoreline where many birds nest.“First we had the creation of an intracoastal waterway in 1949 followed later by the oil and gas industry, which dredged and created a lot of these islands,” he said. “That whole time nature is adapting.”
In the meantime, some bird populations have declined rapidly. The number of black skimmers — black-and-white coastal seabirds — has dropped an estimated 87 percent between 1966 and 2015, according to the Houston Audubon Society. This is primarily due to rapid development on the coastal shoreline and beach drivers who plow through birds while they are nesting.
As their habitat dwindles, however, all the birds might start nesting in one area. That’s unsustainable, Newstead said.