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The northern coast
of the Gulf of Mexico provides important stopover habitat
for Neotropical landbird migrants. It provides the last
possible stopover before fall migrants make a nonstop
flight (18-24 hrs) of greater than 1,000 km across the
Gulf of Mexico, and the first possible landfall for
birds returning north in spring. Unfortunately, the
loss of coastal habitat suitable for forest-dwelling
migrants is accelerating because of the extensive development
of coastal regions. Between l960 and l985, the population
living within 50 miles of the U.S. coast increased from
92.7 million people to 125 million people -- 52 percent
of the population in the coterminous United States.
As stopover habitat is transformed or degraded, the
cost of migration increases, and the potential for a
successful migration is jeopardized.
The Mississippi
coast is characterized by a matrix of mostly pine forest
with scattered hardwood forest, agricultural fields,
and clearcuts throughout. On the eastern and western
borders of Mississippi lie the Pearl and Pascagoula
Rivers that create two large swaths of contiguous bottomland
hardwood forest running south to north. These bottomland
hardwood forests are consistently used by migrating
birds in high densties.
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