With losses across habitats and greatest concern for grassland birds and shorebirds, Audubon’s efforts in Texas have increasingly focused on working lands such as cattle ranches and coastal habitats. Here in Texas, for more than a century, Audubon has worked on the coast to recover herons, egrets, spoonbills, and pelicans that were nearly wiped out from plume hunting, pesticides, and habitat loss. With Brown Pelican now recovered due in part to the places that Audubon has stewarded, we have expanded our scope to focus on species that are in freefall such as the Black Skimmer.   

 Audubon’s coastal team has been awarded a grant to steward six former Black Skimmer nesting sites in Matagorda Bay. Alexis Baldera and Tim Forrester used decades of Texas Colonial Waterbird Survey data to identify these restoration and stewardship sites. The team also will hire two seasonal technicians to help monitor and restore these sites and keep close tabs on how they fare through the nesting season. Decoys will be used to increase the chances of enticing new nesting skimmers. 

 Another way we’re putting our data to work to drive stronger conservation outcomes is through the development of a geospatial Coastal Texas Management and Monitoring Database. Moving forward, we will integrate decades of nesting data from coastal islands, with management actions and stewardship and monitoring surveys. We are also working closely with partners to ensure these data directly inform on‑the‑ground management decisions. 

Last year, our Coastal Warden, Tim Wilkinson, worked with volunteers to count all the nesting birds on Chester Island, as they do every year. Volunteer Hank Arnold also conducted a count using aerial imagery captured by a drone flying above the colony. This allowed us to compare the accuracy of our ground‑based counts and evaluate how new tools can improve future management decisions. We’re excited to incorporate technologies that reduce disturbance, provide more accurate data, and better inform our habitat management actions. 

On the grassland bird front, ranchers are implementing the habitat management plans developed with Audubon Range Ecologists. Anita Gilson, Sarah Galvan, and Chantalle Vincent are preparing to gather the baseline data for 13 (!) new Audubon Conservation Ranching properties certified in 2025. Through this work, we aim to better understand which land management practices deliver the greatest benefits for priority grassland bird species. This is adaptive management in action: a continual, evidence‑driven process that helps us refine our approach for even stronger conservation outcomes.