Shrimp
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Another coastal Louisiana favorite, both brown and white shrimp are found along Louisiana’s coast. The shrimp industry is the most valuable commercial fishery in the state, and Louisiana has led the country in shrimp production since the year 2000. The state’s estuarine coastline supports this industry, as shrimp spend different stages of their life in different salinities. Like oysters, these crustaceans need a good mixture of salty and fresh water to thrive. Local Louisiana shrimp suppliers have recently been threatened …
Blue Crab
Found almost everywhere along Louisiana’s coast, these clawed crustaceans are a staple of Louisiana’s ecosystem and dinner table. Blue crabs are found throughout Louisiana’s estuary from the shallow, salty waters of the Gulf of Mexico, to the brackish coastal marshes, and inland, in nearly freshwater marshes. They’re economically important – the blue crab fishery in south Louisiana is the largest in the United States, supplying the country with a quarter of its blue crabs. Blue crabs remain a delicacy found …
Least Tern
These birds can be found along coasts and shorelines, generally on sandy beaches near shallow waters for feeding. They are our smallest tern and can be identified by their quick wingbeats and shrill cries. Populations in many areas are endangered because of human impacts on nesting areas, particularly due to competition for use of beaches.
Seaside Sparrow
As its name suggests, the seaside sparrow inhabits coastal marshes, salt marshes, and tidal marshes along the eastern coast of North America, ranging from the Gulf of Mexico up to New England. They are often found foraging among the marsh grasses and low vegetation, where they build nests in dense vegetation close to the ground. As these birds continue to face threats such as habitat loss and degradation due to coastal development and sea-level rise, efforts to conserve and protect …
Prothonotary Warbler
Prothonotary warblers are flagged for conservation concern and have experienced a 40% decrease in their population since the 1960s. Interestingly, the rate of population decline outpaces the loss of breeding habitat, indicating additional factors are influencing their decline. Formerly recognized as golden swamp warblers, these birds urgently require adequate nesting and habitat areas. Preferring wooded environments, they inhabit forested regions, particularly favoring damp habitats such as swamps and lowland forests. The birds are typically spotted in Louisiana from March through …
Black Skimmer
The black skimmer is a distinctive bird characterized by its striking black upperparts and white underparts. It has a unique feature of a longer lower mandible compared to the upper one, which it uses to skim the water’s surface while flying to catch fish. Black skimmers are frequently observed perched on sandbars and beaches on remote barrier islands. These birds can be sensitive to disturbances and are threatened by land loss, sea level rise, and oil and gas infrastructure.
American Oystercatcher
American oystercatchers are a large, gaudy black and white shorebird with a bright red bill. They nest on small remote islands in eastern coastal Louisiana with an ample supply of their favorite foods: shellfish and marine worms. American oystercatchers’ numbers declined seriously in the 19th century, then recovered well in the 20th century. Despite a disturbance in beach habitats, the species currently is doing fairly well, often nesting on dredge spoil islands.
Piping Plover
Listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act, this species migrates to the Gulf Coast during the non-breeding season, which can last from late July through April. Because they spend most of their annual cycle on the wintering grounds, human disturbance and habitat loss remain critical limitations for recovering the population, despite gains from nesting site protection on breeding grounds in the upper Midwest, Great Lakes, and northern Atlantic Coast. With only about 8,000 birds in the world, restoration projects …
Wilson’s Plover
Louisiana is the most important state in the U.S. for this species, as it breeds along vegetated shorelines. They are susceptible to unbalanced predator populations, sea level rise, human disturbance during nesting, and benefit from site-specific protections that are designed for humans and birds to share the shore, as well as dune renourishment projects that provide increased nesting elevation.
Clapper Rail
This bird is found in coastal salt marshes and is more often heard than seen due to its boisterous clapping calls. It feeds on a variety of crustations and invertebrates, but because of its tenuous position at the coast’s edge, it is vulnerable to sea level rise and increasingly severe hurricanes.
Yellow Rail
Very few people have ever seen a yellow rail, as it is one of the most secretive birds in North America. Migrating from remote wetlands in central Canada to the Gulf Coast in winter, it rarely makes a sound or flies, spending months walking beneath thick grasses of coastal prairie, longleaf pine flatwoods, and coastal high marsh. Given extensive human conversion of these habitats, it has experienced substantial population declines. One ff the best ways to get a glimpse of …
Swallow-tailed Kite
This spectacular and unusual raptor is a long-distance migrant, wintering in South America and then returning to its breeding grounds in extensive bottomland hardwood forests, such as the Atchafalaya or Pearl River Basins. It once was found further up the Mississippi River, but widespread conversion to agriculture restricted its range to the deep south.
Green Heron
Known for their ability to utilize any spot with fresh water, green herons have an extensive breeding range and a stable and expanding population. The ‘green’ on this bird’s back is actually an iridescent color that may look dull blueish or dark, and they are usually found along shaded streams or densely vegetated swamps.
Reddish Egret
A permanent resident of the Louisiana coast, the reddish egret makes its home along salt and brackish water wetlands. Its long legs and neck help the egret feed by running with long strides through the shallow water and using their spear-like beak to stab their prey. Until the late 1800s, reddish egrets were hunted for their feathers, decimating the population. The species has since rebounded to roughly 2000 pairs nation-wide, making it the rarest heron in the U.S.; the biggest …
Little Blue Heron
One of 12 species of herons, egrets and bitterns found in Louisiana, the little blue heron is typically found wading in shallow water. When it’s young, it looks much like the Snowy Egret, but molts to a dark slate-blue plumage once it is about a year old. The biggest threat to the species is the loss of freshwater wetlands it calls home. The Little Blue Heron will nest in trees or dense low thickets over water in colonies with other …