Alabama’s Gulf Coast:
It’s a Birders’ Paradise
For the ultimate birding experience, visit Alabama’s Gulf
Coast and bring along your life list. Or if you are a novice at this hobby, get your bird
book, binoculars, and camera and prepare to capture the enthusiasm of one of the fastest
growing recreational activities in the United States.
The combination of the abundance of birds, access to birding
sites and the amenities and convenience of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach make the area a
prime destination for birders.
A 51-page booklet, complete with maps and full-color photographs,
introduces the Alabama Coastal Birding Trail. Arranged as a series of loops, the brochure
gives directions to most-frequented birding spots and the indigenous Alabama birds and
migratory neo-tropical songbirds that might be observed in a diversity of habitats.
There are two major bird migrations annually. The first is in
spring, normally peaking between late March and early May. The fall migration occurs from
mid-September through mid-November.
Bird bandings conducted by the Hummer/Bird Study Group are held
during the spring and fall migrations at Fort Morgan. This group welcomes the public to
visit their site and observe the birds as they are given their free physical and then
released to continue their journey. This event is so valuable for research and popular
with the public, it has been featured in Smithsonian Magazine.
To see wading and shore birds, hummingbirds, neo-tropical
songbirds and all the others in between, wing it on down and tour the trail.
The Alabama Coastal Birding Trail brochure is a cooperative project of the
Alabama Gulf Coast Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Mobile Convention & Visitors
Corporation, the U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the U. S. Department of
Transportation. Print it out before you visit!
Gulf
Shores, Alabama - Thirty-two miles of sugar white beaches make
Gulf Shores/Orange Beach the perfect vacation destination for those who choose to relax
and those who want to be active. Whether it is reading in the shade of an
umbrella-sheltered beach chair, listening to the soothing music of the surf, reeling in
fish, playing a round of golf or exploring the rich history and protected wildlife
habitats, Alabama's coast has it!
