The Binocular Site
Dauphin Island, Alabama
Dauphin Island can be found in the Gulf of Mexico and is a barrier island on the Mobile Bay's western edge, off the coast of Alabama.
The island is home to a great number of bird sanctuaries; the largest of which is the Audubon Bird Sanctuary found just to the west of historic Fort Gaines. This sanctuary was established in 1961 and forms part of the Alabama Coastal Birding Trail.
The Audubon Bird Sanctuary covers over 160 acres of dunes, gulf beaches, pine forest, swamp, and freshwater lakes providing a range of diverse habitats for the approximately 350 species of birds known to frequent the area.
Although Dauphin Island is great all year round for birdwatching, spring offers the greatest variety of birds. The island is one of the first land masses encountered by birds returning north from across the Gulf of Mexico after winter. As a result, Dauphin Island is known as a great place for spotting many exotic, migrant, neo-tropical birds from Central and South America.
Another interesting time for spotting diverse species in Dauphin Island is directly following a hurricane, as many out of place species will congegrate in the area. See the Dauphin Island website for more information.
The state bird of Alabama is the Northern Flicker and you can find a birding checklist for Alabama here.
Photo credit to syntheticaperture, used with permission under the creative commons license.
If you've visited Dauphin Island, please take the time to share your experience and any tips or insight you have about this Alabama birding location below.
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Average User Rating
We visited here just this spring. It was the first time that I'd been to a major migratory spot like this and the sheer numbers of bird was mind blowing.
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