Description: This dataset was compiled by the Geospatial Technology Services team of the Texas General Land Office (GLO) based on previous efforts from the 1980s through 2015, including the initial GLO Texas Colonial Waterbird Rookeries layer (1996), Central Coast Rookeries by the Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program (CBBEP, 2005), Rookery Islands managed by the Audubon Society (2014), in addition to waterbird colony site locations and the TCWS annual bird census database (2015). Wherever possible, the rookeries, especially on natural or spoil islands, were delineated using the most recent aerial imagery and Lidar-derived evelation contours. This layer is revised and updated based feedback receoved from experts with field observation data as late as July 2021. However, not every colony has been checked, therefore, their status designation is still based on the TCWS database last updated in 2015.
Copyright Text: Geospatial Technology Services, Texas General Land Office, in cooperation with other federal and state agencies, as well as non-governmental conservational and scientific entities.