The Gulf of Mexico is hugely important to birds that migrate between North America and the Neotropics—almost all migrants have to go around it or across it. Coastal habitats around the Gulf of Mexico are critical for these migrating birds, but these habitats face more and more threats from human activity. A new Review in The Condor: Ornithological Applications brings together what we know—and don’t know—about the state of the region’s ecosystems and the birds that pass through them.