In 1930, Texas built three bird-nesting islands; all vanished. One restored island is now home to over 2,500 nesting habitat

Nearly a century ago, mud dredged from a Texas shipping channel was used to create three small islands. For decades, they became valuable nesting grounds for pelicans, herons, terns and other waterbirds. Then, slowly, the islands disappeared. Today, part of that lost landscape has emerged from the water again. A major restoration effort in Dickinson Bay, along the western side of Galveston Bay, has recreated nesting habitat, and thousands of birds have returned.

How did three islands disappear?

The original islands were created during the 1930s using material dredged from the Dickinson Bay channel, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). But subsidence and erosion gradually lowered them. By the late 1970s, their elevation had fallen enough to make them unsuitable for nesting. Tropical storms during the 1980s and 1990s delivered the final blow, leaving all three submerged. Conservationists eventually began looking at whether the habitat could be rebuilt rather than simply accepted as lost.

The first island returned in 2005

The first breakthrough came in 2005, when the Galveston Bay Foundation restored Dickinson Bay Island, creating roughly two acres of nesting habitat. Birds returned, giving conservationists evidence that recreating the vanished habitat could work. Attention then shifted to a much larger project known as Dickinson Bay Island II. Planning stretched across more than a decade and involved the USFWS, Galveston Bay Foundation, NOAA and other state and federal partners. Construction began in late 2021 and was completed in spring 2022. The result was approximately 4.5 acres of new nesting habitat, alongside a one-acre oyster reef and about 2,000 feet of protective structure designed to provide additional habitat for oysters and fish. Volunteers and project partners subsequently planted more than 2,000 trees and shrubs across the new island.

More than 2,500 nesting pairs have arrived

The response from wildlife has been remarkable. During the 2025 Texas Colonial Waterbird Census, more than 2,500 pairs of colonial waterbirds were estimated to be nesting on Dickinson Bay Island II. Species recorded there include royal and Sandwich terns, brown pelicans, white ibises, snowy egrets, tricoloured herons and great blue herons. Earlier monitoring had already produced encouraging results. In 2023, the Deepwater Horizon restoration trustees said the number of breeding pairs observed during the nesting season had “exceeded the Trustees’ expectations.” The restoration forms part of the wider Texas Rookery Islands effort, designed to restore and protect nesting habitat damaged by erosion and relative sea-level rise.

Restoration goes beyond the birds

The benefits aren't confined to the island's feathered residents. Oyster habitat can support fisheries, while the restored island has also become a destination for recreational anglers. The USFWS says more than $6 million has been invested in Dickinson Bay Island II from design through construction and monitoring.

Texas is continuing similar work nearby. In 2026, state officials announced funding for shoreline protection and restoration of another bird-nesting ridge in Dickinson Bay threatened by erosion and habitat loss. The story of Dickinson Bay shows that ecological loss doesn't always have to be permanent. Three islands disappeared beneath the water decades ago; today, two have been rebuilt, and on one of them, thousands of nesting birds have quite literally come home.