Water birds return to restored Louisiana island

Work to restore an island off the coast of Louisiana has resulted in a resurgence of water birds, state officials say. Rabbit Island had eroded from nearly 290 acres to about 200 acres. Last fall, dredging added 102 acres, restoring nesting habitat for a variety of birds, including about 1,500 nesting pairs of brown pelicans. The restoration work was paid for using settlement money from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Twelve species nested on Rabbit Island this year, 10 of them state listed as “species of greatest conservation need.”

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