Movement data for the Colony Island Network Design and Implementation (CINDI) project to recover waterbirds in the Gulf of Mexico: Great Egret (Ardea alba) 2023

The waterbird population of the Gulf Coast of Texas relies on 300 natural and constructed colony islands to support the population, but the limited funds that are dedicated to island rehabilitation cannot be used to restore all islands. Managers must prioritize islands that provide the greatest benefit to waterbirds, but the prioritization process is challenging without a tool to guide their decisions. Therefore, we developed a data-driven prioritization tool that incorporates bio-geo-physical constraints on nesting as part of a pilot study. To achieve this, we collected data on island traits, foraging habitat, and landscape characteristics that influence waterbird breeding productivity. This dataset contains point locations and other associated data from GPS transmitters (Ornitrack 9, 10, or 15) that were attached to three nesting Great Egrets (Ardea alba) during the 2023 breeding season to assess foraging ranges around colonies in the Laguna Madre and Corpus Christi Bay systems of the Gulf Coast of Texas. The three birds were tracked from 2023-04-12 to 2023-12-18. The suite of related datasets include tracking for Black Skimmers (2019-2023: HI.x960.000:0003, https://doi.org/10.7266/7kxf3hqd, Caspian Terns (2022-2023: HI.x960.000:0004, https://doi.org/10.7266/gqtgaw3g and 2024: HI.x960.000:0008, https://doi.org/10.7266/jvpaa0ys), Tricolored Herons (2023: HI.x960.000:0005, https://doi.org/10.7266/3y4qnaax and 2024: HI.x960.000:0006, https://doi.org/10.7266/pr3pj20d), and Great Egrets (2023: HI.x960.000:0002, https://doi.org/10.7266/manamsa7 and 2024: HI.x960.000:0009, https://doi.org/10.7266/8gpn11g2).