Birding enthusiasts love the Gulf Shores and Orange Beach area for its variety of feathered creatures that both reside here and migrate seasonally. Sitting on the balcony of your condo, you’re apt to see pelicans, seagulls, blue heron, and more. But if you want to get up-close-and-personal with a wider variety of winged creatures, the The Alabama Coastal Birding Trail has plenty for you to explore.
The Alabama Coastal Birding Trail is a birder's paradise. Our sun-drenched coast is a popular resort area for a variety of feathered visitors and year-round residents. Located along Mobile Bay, Dauphin Island, and the Gulf Coast, the Trail attracts a plentiful and diverse gathering of birds seeking food and shelter in the wetlands and undeveloped areas along multiple waterways.
The trail comprises a series of six loops, each easily accessible and convenient to local restaurants and accommodations.
The Gulf Shore-Orange Beach Loop runs from Perdido Pass in the east to Little Lagoon Pass in the west, and offers an abundance of shorebirds, Loons, Egrets and Plover.
The Fort Morgan Loop is home to the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge as well as the Fort Morgan Historical Park.
Bon Secour’s Pine Beach Trail offers the loop’s best opportunity for birding during migrations.
Fort Morgan offers a view of Civil War history with its gun emplacements overlooking the mouth of Mobile Bay, and the surrounding area is a prime viewing spot for migrant water birds, sparrows and hawks.
The South Baldwin County Loop takes you inland across a variety of habitats and offers views of wading birds along the Perdido River.
The Eastern Shore, Mobile Bay Causeway and Blakeley Island Loop begins in Fairhope to the east, travels across Mobile Bay and ends at Blakeley Island.
Blue-and-Tri Colored Herons, Cormorants and White Pelicans are among the species to be seen along the way.
The East Mobile River- Tensaw Delta Loop is located northeast of Mobile at the confluence of the Alabama and Tombigbee rivers, and includes an 850-acre Wildlife Management Area.
Songbirds, like the Indigo Bunting and Pine Warbler, are the loop’s main attraction. Best seen by boat, the loop does offer access points along the eastern periphery.
The Dauphin Island-Bayou La Batre Loop boasts the Dauphin Island Audubon Sanctuary, 164 acres of maritime pine forest. The island is home to 345 species of birds and provides excellent opportunities to view a variety of Passerines, as well as Egrets, Herons and Ibis.
The Alabama Coastal Birding Trail welcomes visitors to one of North America’s premier birding habitats. This beautiful resource affords visitors a rare opportunity to see an astounding variety of birds in their natural environment.
For more information, visit AlabamaCoastalBirdingTrail.com, and be sure to download the official Alabama Coastal Birding Trail Guide Book.