Free | Publicly available
For this project, The Water Institute (the Institute) and subcontractor Colibri Ecological Consulting, LLC (Colibri) utilized established methods and protocols capable of assessing changes of colonial waterbird populations and their important habitats within individual states and the broader northern Gulf of Mexico region. Data collection activities included: Aerial Photographic Nest Surveys: Implementation of fixed-wing aircraft surveys intended to assess waterbird colonies and document associated nesting within select portions of the northern Gulf of Mexico. Additional detail is provided on the Survey Protocols page of this portal. Nest Dotting Analyses: Review and analysis of aerial photographic nest surveys (2010-2013, 2015, 2018, and 2021) with the intention of documenting the breeding population size and associated nesting for each species at each colony. Additional detail is provided on the Dotting Protocols page of this portal.