Restoration Builds Nesting Island for Louisiana Birds
Crews rebuilt 102 acres of Rabbit Island in southwestern Louisiana, and birds nested there in large numbers in the first season.
Updated on Nov. 13, 2026 in Bird Watching
Restoration crews built 102 acres of nesting habitat on Rabbit Island in southwestern Louisiana after the island had lost much of its land. Birds recorded more than 11,600 nests on the island in the first season, over 30 times the original estimate of about 370.
Why it matters
The project was designed to create nesting habitat that would offset harm to colonial waterbirds caused by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. It shows how engineered marsh can give birds a place to nest on a Louisiana coast that has lost about 25% of its 1932 land area.
Of the 102 restored acres, 81 were designated colonial waterbird nesting habitat and 21 were set aside as secretive marsh bird habitat. Crews installed 810 wire-mesh rock baskets, each filled with about 3,000 pounds of limestone, along the island's northeastern edge.
The details
Crews built up the island's elevation using sediment dredged from the Calcasieu Ship Channel and planted more than 65,000 plants, including smooth cordgrass and marsh elder. The limestone in the rock baskets also gives young oysters a surface to attach to.
Timeline
2010: The Deepwater Horizon oil spill occurred.
2020: Restoration began after the island was mostly flooded.
Late 2023: Engineers finished installing the rock baskets along the northeastern edge.
Spring 2024: Staff found hundreds of brown pelicans nesting over new eggs.
Roadmap
The project responds to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, which harmed colonial waterbirds that depend on coastal nesting sites. It extends that response by rebuilding land on a Louisiana coast that lost about 25% of its 1932 land area between 1932 and 2016.
Birdwatchers in Louisiana may find new nesting colonies on the restored Rabbit Island habitat. Visitors should keep a respectful distance from nesting areas so the birds can continue to breed there.
The takeaway
Restored habitat can give birds a place to nest after storms, erosion, and spills have removed their old sites. Birdwatchers can support this work by observing nesting colonies from a distance.
Further reading
For more on the birds that nest along this coast, explore Bird Watching.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Economic Times.
