Texas is blessed with a 367-mile coast.  In addition, we have about 234 miles of barrier islands (Galveston, Follet’s, Matagorda, San Jose, Mustang, Padre, and Brazos Islands) and at least 78 miles of barrier peninsulas (Bolivar and Matagorda Peninsulas).

While much of the Texas Coast is accessible to beachgoers and we can visit most of our beaches throughout the year, Summer is still the time that many people visit beaches.

But lest we forget, beaches are not just for people who swim, sunbathe, and walk, but they are also home for many plants and animals and particularly for some birds who nest there.

According to the Houston Audubon Society (HAS) and American Bird Conservancy (ABC), we need to be especially careful during Summer when birds nest on beaches.  Some of the birds that you may find nesting on Texas beaches include Least Terns, Black Skimmers, American Oystercatchers, Wilson’s Plovers, and Snowy Plovers.

ABC came up with a saying for beachgoers in 2013 that they should, “Fish, Swim, and Play From 50 Yards Away”, to emphasize what people should do to reduce or eliminate their impacts on nesting birds.  If not careful, people can accidentally trample, destroy nests or cause them to be abandoned by walking too close to nesting birds.

Other advice includes:  avoid getting close to large congregations of birds and respect areas that are roped off or marked with signs that designate bird nesting areas.  Often when you enter a nesting area, groups or individual birds will call loudly, dive-bomb your head, or feign injury to lure you away from a nest.

The HAS adds that people should keep their pets away from bird nesting areas (leash them), watch where you drive on our beaches, don’t feed birds or their chicks (this attracts predators to the nest site), and dispose of trash and fishing line properly so that it does not injure or kill birds and other animals like sea turtles and fish.

A little care will go a long, long, way, will show that you are concerned about other beach life, and will set an example to inform others who do not know better.

So, share the beach, have a good time, and be safe this Summer!   

References

1) “Fourth of July Beachgoers Asked to “Fish, Swim, and Play from 50 yards Away”, American Bird Conservancy, June 13, 2013, https://abcbirds.org.

2) “Bird-Friendly Beachgoing”, Anna Vallery, Houston Audubon Society, https://houstonaudubon.org.

3) “Texas barrier islands”, Wikipedia, from October 20, 2020.

Author: Brandt Mannchen