Wild beasts and birds are by right not the property merely of the people who are alive today,
but the property of unknown generations, whose belongings we have no right to squander.
-- Theodore Roosevelt
It’s been said that in order to witness the beauty and diversity of the birds and wildlife of South Mississippi, you must become part of the silence. Our One Coast has many agencies, organizations, and naturalists who do just that and much more in educating and preserving our ecology. Thanks to their efforts, witnessing that part of Nature’s wonders in South Mississippi can you lead you on adventures many visitors will never experience.
The tri-county area of Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson counties is teeming with birds and wildlife. Here are just a few of the locations and a sampling of what you may discover.
- The Barrier Islands – Cat, Deer, Horn, Petit Bois, and Ship:
Osprey, American Bald Eagle, American Oystercatcher, Snowy and Wilson’s Plovers, (Eastern) Willet, Royal, Sandwich, Gull-billed and Least Terns, Black Skimmer and Seaside Sparrow, Magnificent Frigatebird, Reddish Egret, and Black Terns.
- Hancock County – McLeod State Park, Cedar Point Boat Launch, Buccaneer State Park, Ansley Preserve, and Napoleonville and Log Town on the Pearl River; also, the piers of Clermont Harbor, Garfield Ladner, and Clement R. Bontemps:
Tricolored Heron, American Oystercatcher, Least Tern, Gull-billed Tern, Sandwich Tern, Black Skimmer, Swallow-tailed Kite, Mississippi Kite, Chuck-will’s-widow, Sedge Wren, Prothonotary Warbler, Swainson’s Warbler, Tricolored Heron, Clapper Rail, Vermilion Flycatcher, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Sedge Wren, Seaside Sparrow, and Painted Bunting.
- Harrison County – Clower Thornton and Turkey Creek Nature areas in Gulfport, Bethel Bike Trail in Desoto National Park, Pass Christian, Gulfport, and Biloxi Harbors and the Coliseum and Ken Combs Piers:
Swallow-tailed Kite, Mississippi Kite, Chuck-will’s-Widow, Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Sedge Wren, Prothonotary Warbler, Bachman’s Sparrow, Le Conte’s Sparrow, Painted Bunting Red Knot, Gull-billed, Least, and Sandwich Terns
- Jackson County – Shepard State, Pascagoula Beach, and Pointe Parks, Gulf Islands National Seashore, Twelve Oaks Preserve, The Pascagoula River Audubon Center, Lake Mars, and Magnolia Birding Piers, Fontaine Bleu Trail, Escatawpa River Observatory, and Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge:
Bald Eagle, Brown Pelican, Mississippi Kite, Clapper Rail, Mississippi Sandhill Crane, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Sedge Wren, Magnolia Warbler, Bachman’s Sparrow, Henslow’s Sparrow, Le Conte’s Sparrow, Painted Bunting, Least Bittern, Tricolored Heron, Clapper Rail, Hooded Merganser, Gull-billed Tern, Sandwich, Tern, and American Oystercatcher.
Visit www.mscoastbirdingtrail.audubon.org for details.
The rivers and bayous of One Coast are home to numerous other forms of wildlife, including alligators. Warning signs are posted for visitors not to approach or feed them which in itself is an illegal act.
A complete and centralized location for a variety of birding and conservation activities, including field trips and resources, is the Pascagoula River Audubon Center in Moss Point. There you will also find details about the Mississippi Coast Audubon Society (MCAS). The MCAS’s popular project “Nest N Peace,” dating back to 1975, initiated its charter the following year. Today it is the state’s largest Audubon chapter. Visits www.pascagoulariver.audubon.org for details.
Article by Elaine Stevens
