Audubon Delta

🐦‍⬛🐦🦆Happy World Migratory Bird Day!

Every year, migratory birds travel across the hemisphere along routes like the Mississippi Flyway, depending on healthy habitats across Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana to survive the journey. In Louisiana, the Maurepas swamp — one of the nation’s largest forested wetlands and a continentally important bird area — provides critical habitat for migratory birds like the Prothonotary Warbler.

But as the swamp becomes more stagnant and habitat declines, so do the birds that depend on it. Coastal restoration projects like the River Reintroduction into Maurepas Swamp will help reconnect the swamp to the Mississippi River, bringing in fresh water, nutrients and sediment needed to improve forest health and slow further wetland loss. Restoring this habitat will help support the migratory birds that connect our region to the rest of the hemisphere.

Photo credits: Maurepas Swamp Aerial/Sydney Walsh/Audubon
Prothonotary Warbler/ David Sloas/APA
Migration data from Audubon's Bird Migration Explorer