by Chloe Crumley, Engagement Manager, Audubon Texas
Published July 25, 2024
Port Aransas is a city on Mustang Island renowned for its 18 miles of Gulf of Mexico beaches and waterways teeming with fish. It is also one of the best places for birding in Texas with birders coming from across the country. In 2022, Port Aransas was recognized as a Bird City – implementing science-based actions and community education to protect birds where we live, work, and recreate.
Being a Bird City is hard work and cannot be done without partnerships and collaboration from a diverse network. Port Aransas knows this well with their Cooperative Weed Management Area (CWMA) - a partnership between a dozen organizations aimed at removing the Brazilian Peppertree (Schinus terebinthifolia) from Port O’Connor to Mansfield Pass. The first of its kind in Texas, the CWMA is funded by a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Federation and matched by the City of Port Aransas. The mission of the CWMA is to establish a baseline of information on the distribution and impacts of Brazilian Peppertree, implement a vegetation control pilot project, and raise public awareness about the plant. A native to South America, this perennial broadleaf evergreen shrub is highly invasive and extremely aggressive, shading out competing vegetation.
Partners are key to the success of this work—they share public messaging and help to alleviate concerns about vegetation removal. Tourism, especially birding, comprises a significant portion of the Port Aransas economy. Endangered Whooping Crane overwinter, and many other migratory bird species use the island as a transit point, utilizing the island’s sparse vegetation. Therefore, removing vegetation (even invasive Brazilian peppertree) is anathema to some. Partners work to educate and address these concerns through public outreach and events like native plant sales.
Native plants are pivotal in establishing community habitats that nurture birds and other wildlife. Port Aransas places a strong emphasis on native plantings through its partnership with Keep Port Aransas Beautiful. Before earning certification as a Bird City, Port Aransas hosted plant swaps, but now they organize native plant sales every spring. In 2023, their entire stock of native plants sold out in just 25 minutes! Since 2018, the National Arbor Day Foundation has generously donated over five hundred trees to Port Aransas, focusing exclusively on native species—eschewing crepe myrtles and other ornamentals. The native tree giveaway during Port A's World Migratory Bird Day stands out as one of the largest events.
Port Aransas is a great example of how communities can align initiatives like invasive species management with native plant programs and bird conservation. Each year, Port Aransas with their partners from the University of Texas Marine Science Institute, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Coastal Bend and Bays Estuary Program, Nueces County Costal Parks and many more work together to create habitat that is beneficial to birds and people, today and tomorrow.
