Page 70 - South Mississippi Living - July, 2025

GREAT OUTDOORS
Clapper Rail.
Least Tern.
Coastal Birding Guide The
American Coot.
Common Loon.
Mississippi Coastal
Birding
Trail
story by
Victoria Snyder
Yellow-Crowned Night Heron.
The Mississippi Coastal Birding Trail (MCBT) was originally created in 2003 by local bird watcher and writer Judith “Judy” Toups. Now, the trail is known for having some of the best viewing sites for Coastal birders. Toups went on to charter the Mississippi Coast Audubon Society chapter.
Now, the trail is sponsored by the National Audubon Society. Grants and partnerships also help to keep the trail alive. More specifically, Pascagoula River Audubon Center works with local partners along the Coast to keep up with and spread awareness of the MCBT in the six coastal counties.
Spots on the trail are deemed long-term stewardship sites, meaning that the Audubon Society and other organizations with similar missions of nature conservation take care of these areas. The
end goal of the MCBT is to have a statewide network of trails
that encourage environmental tourism, while also amplifying stewardship options to help with upkeep for our local birds.
The MCBT also features designated Important Bird Areas; basically, a place that is important to a species of birds. For example, the Least Tern has an Important Bird Area in Gulfport and is a prominent site along the trail because it is home to one of the largest colonies of Least Terns on the Gulf Coast.
The Mississippi Gulf Coast has a high diversity of birds— almost 400 species! Some common species, like the Least Tern mentioned above, include:
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
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Canada Goose • Pied-billed Grebe
Common Loon
Great Blue Heron • Great Egret
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
White Ibis • Black Vulture Red-shouldered Hawk
Clapper Rail • Common Gallinule American Coot • Black-necked Stilt
Black-bellied Plover • Killdeer Greater Yellowleg • Willet
Bonaparte’s Gull • Caspian Tern Black Skimme • Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove • Eastern Screech-Owl Ruby-throated Hummingbird • American Crow