Mustang Bayou Island

Dredge material island in Galveston Bay with many shrubs providing nesting habitat for waders including Reddish Egrets and Roseatte Spoonbills and unvegetated shell for Black Skimmers and terns. This island is particularly important for nesting Gull-billed Terns in Galveston Bay.

Ornithological Summary

Important habitat for nesting Gull-billed Terns and Royal Terns in Galveston Bay. Also supports a diversity of other terns, skimmers and waders.

Conservation Issues

Susceptible to occasional disturbance, mammalian predators, and natural tropical storm events and associated surge and erosion.

Habitat

Dredge spoil island with unvegetated shell for ground-nesters and numerous shrubs for nesting wading birds. Also grasses and halophytes around the perimeter.

Land Use

Dredge spoil island which occasional receives new spoil deposits. Colonial waterbirds nesting on the island are monitored annually.