Project Partners:

Gulf Coast Bird Observatory
Texas Parks and Wildlife

Funding:

Texas Parks and Wildlife

GCBO has been awarded a one year contract from Texas Parks and Wildlife Division to census sand plovers along the Upper Texas Coast.  The study will focus mainly on Piping Plovers but Snowy and Wilson's Plovers will also be included.  Beginning in early January, we will survey plovers on the UTC and record numbers of birds, habitat characteristics, and human disturbance.  Although regular Piping Plover surveys occur on the breeding grounds, there have been no recent winter surveys on the UTC in Texas.  These data will enable our staff ornithologists to determine the habitat characteristics preferred by wintering plovers, determine if there are any threats to those habitats, and estimate the population size supported by the UTC in winter.

How you can participate

All of our projects rely on volunteer birders and professional biologists to collect these important data. Please click over to the individual monitoring projects and consider joining us in one or more of these fun and rewarding field projects.