Whether you are a birding enthusiast or just starting out as a birdwatcher, you’ll discover a paradise on the Alabama Gulf Coast.

Even if birdwatching isn’t high on your list, you’re going to encounter shore birds during your visit. Sandpipers, great blue herons, laughing gulls, ring-billed gulls and pelicans are common sights along our coast.

The Coastal Birding Trail, featuring six birding loops in Baldwin and Mobile counties and totaling more than 200 miles, is a terrific place to watch and learn about our feathered neighbors. Each loop covers different ecological regions representative of the northern Gulf Coast and enables birders to experience different assemblages of bird species within each region.

The birds you’ll see along the trail are as varied as the ecosystems you encounter. Some of the most-often spotted birds include yellow-dumped warblers, European starlings, laughing gulls, American robins, American coots, red-breasted mergansers, turkey vultures, Foster’s terns, mourning doves, brown-headed nuthatches, northern mockingbirds, tri-colored herons, white ibis and sanderlings.

But that is by no means an all-inclusive list. Osprey, hawks, egrets and even eagles live here as well.

When you encounter birds at the beach, please don’t feed them. It’s not good for our winged friends to view people as a source of food. Also, be sure to properly dispose of food wrappers and other trash because birds will mistake it for food and become ill or injured by eating it.

Enjoy the sightings, but please keep our wildlife safe while you do.