Synthesis of Breeding Bird Use of Chandeleur Island, Louisiana

The Water Institute (the Institute) has developed this report for the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority. The Institute team is made up of collaborative, multi-disciplinary staff that have the necessary background and expertise to support this effort, including avian science, coastal geomorphology and ecology, and barrier island restoration.

The purpose of this technical memorandum is to synthesize colonial waterbird nesting data on Chandeleur Islands from 2010-2013, 2015, 2018, and 2021–2022. This information is intended to inform and support the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority Engineering and Design Team activities and stakeholder coordination for PO-0199, Chandeleur Islands Restoration. The data summarized in this report was acquired from aerial surveys and associated dotting analysis by Colibri Ecological Consulting (Capitolo et al., 2023; Colibri Ecological Consulting & R. G. Ford Consulting Company, 2015), and describes the abundance, species diversity, and colony locations of nesting colonial waterbirds on North and South Chandeleur Islands, New Harbor Island, Gosier Islands, and Freemason Island.