The distance to the town of Venice from New Orleans is 75 miles (one way). When birders speak of "Venice," however, they are talking about a long and narrow strip of land between levees that spans a large part of Plaquemines Parish. The Venice area includes natural levee woodlands, some live oak and some willow, between the west bank of the Mississippi River and the coastal marsh, and between Triumph and the end of the road below Venice. The woods are in many cases quite small and hard to find unless one knows the area. Often you will be birding in what appears to be a dump, and you may be surrounded by poison-ivy and beset by insects.

Some of the surrounding marsh can be seen from various vantage points (e.g., the Buras and Boothville boat launches), so there are opportunities to see the resident herons and wintering waterfowl, but there is little shorebird habitat. The area is also not very good for gulls and terns, although careful scanning of the river from the levee might be productive, and there is an active dump below Venice. On the other hand, Venice offers some of the best possibilities in Louisiana for western vagrants in winter, and is as good as any place in the state for unusual raptors.

To reach Venice, take LA 23 (the Belle Chasse Highway) south from Belle Chasse toward Empire and Venice. Most of the way there are open fields and pastures for hawks, swallows, and so on. Just downriver from Myrtle Grove one can, if time permits, take the shell road to Lake Judge Perez (Lake Hermitage), birding the woods which cover the ridge on which the road is built. North and south of Myrtle Grove one should be on the lookout for Black-shouldered Kite (fall) or a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher.

Further down LA 23 toward Triumph are several shell roads which cross the levee on the right (west) and which can give a good view of the marsh. One of them leads to the Buras boat launch.

About eight miles below the bridge at Empire you enter the area of the detailed Venice map. Here there is a Shell service station and convenience store on the right, and about 1/4 mile below that are the main woods at Triumph, "Morel's woods," also to the right (west). There is a rusted gate with a welded sign saying "Posted Out Back." This is a large patch of live oaks, running to the levee on the marsh. These are the most beautiful woods in the Venice area, although not necessarily the most productive. The shell road entering them should be walked to the end, whereupon you can retrace your steps, or cross the drainage ditch and bird the woods back toward the road. The various possibilities will be obvious: brush, heavy live oak woods, fairly dense undergrowth. Again, this is all private property, access to which depends entirely on discretion of the landowners.

Fort Jackson is about 2 miles below these woods (11.5 miles below the Empire bridge), on the left and on the river. This is a park and the entrance is well marked. Here one can bird the oaks around the fort, and/or the very extensive live oak/deciduous woods below the fort, which are best entered at their lower end. These woods can often seem to be devoid of birds, and in winter you may see nothing unless you squeek up a winter foraging flock, which may contain several species of wintering warblers, etc. You may find Chuck-will's Widow in migration or winter, Barn, Great-horned, and Screech Owl, or an empidonax or myiarchus flycatcher.

One of Venice's current hotspots is the extensive area of brush, elderberry, and willows which is across and a bit upriver from the fort. It runs for about a half-mile along the west side of the road, and back almost to the levee on the marsh. Almost anything might be found here, but it is especially noted for the Ash-throated and Brown-crested Flycatchers which are found almost every year, especially near fruiting elderberry bushes. There are also ponds which harbor diving ducks and a limited amount of shorebird habitat.

Just below these woods is a sewerage treatment plant with two small deep ponds, some brush, and possibly some shorebird habitat, and about 3/4 mile further south , on the left, are the "Pecan woods," one of the better migrant traps in the Venice area. They can be recognized by the trailer park on the downriver side and a field with a large white house at the back on the upriver side. Often White-winged Doves will be seen in the trees in this area (winter). The pecan woods can be reached either from the main road (LA 23) or from the paved road along the river, which departs from LA 23 just above the pecan woods and runs for about 3.5 miles at the base of the Mississippi River levee. In October and November the pecans offer an additional attraction. Often these woods are not very productive in midwinter.

Several other spots are accessible from the river road. Sometimes the willows on the river side of the levee (the "batture") can be productive, and if the river is low enough there may be gulls, herons, or shorebirds on the mud flats at the river's edge. There is a small pond on the river road just above the pecan woods, and there are several other small patches of woods on this road or on the back road by the levee, all the way to Venice. Wintering Northern Orioles (both types) are sometimes found around the orange groves, and White-winged Doves might be found anywhere (in winter).
On the main road 19.9 miles below the Empire canal, exactly one mile above Venice, and close by the Venice Post Office, is a radio tower on the west side of the main road. It is surrounded by brush and woods (private), which lead back to the canal next to the levee on the marsh side. This is a good place for Groove-billed Anis in winter, which can be found in brushy areas or in the tall patches of roseau cane (Phragmites), and Black-throated Gray Warbler and MacGillivray's Warbler have been seen here.

One mile below the radio tower (21 miles south of the Empire bridge) is the big curve at Venice. Up to 150 White-winged Doves at one time have been seen in the trees at this curve. The road leaves the river here, heading Southwest toward the Getty Oil installation at Tidewater and the end of the road. The road leads nearly four miles along water-hyacinth-choked Red Pass, past willow woodlands to a dead end. The usual strategy is to drive slowly along the road, stopping at intervals. Especially watch the tall, mostly dead cypress trees to the north of the road for perched raptors, including Osprey. This whole area is a good place to see both species of plegadis ibis. Sometimes there will be flycatchers on the wires or rails in the pass, and occasionally (depending on water level) there is some transient shorebird habitat. At the end of the road, a tour through the small abandoned housing development can sometimes yield Northern Orioles or hummingbirds in winter, especially at the red-flowered Turk's Cap.

There are several places to stop during your return toward Venice, but the best birding is often from two paved roads that lead to the right. The first is about one mile above the end of the road. It leads about 1 1/4 miles past willow woods which can harbor wintering warblers, through the marsh where waterfowl may be seen to the south, to a dead end at Bud's Boat Yard on the left and the Venice Marina on the right. The willows along the road are especially good for unexpected wintering warblers and other vagrants. Raptors can often be seen over the marsh; check especially for the occasional Peregrine Falcon or Osprey. At the entrance to the Venice marina and to the left near Bud's parking lot are some willow woods, often flooded. These woods have produced good western vagrants in the past.

After you return to the main road, the next paved road ("Gallinule Road" to local birders) is about 1 ½ mile further toward Venice. It leads through mostly drained marsh, past the Venice landfill to Tiger Pass, and a Coast Guard Station. This is the scene of much oil-related marine activity and there is a new marina, greatly reducing the wooded habitat which was once among the very best at Venice. The willow and cypress woods on the right might yield migrants in the right season and vagrants in winter; many important birds have been found here over the years. Purple Gallinules and Least Bitterns might still be found here in late spring or summer, and the dump should be checked for vagrant gulls.

Both species of plegadis ibis occur at Venice, especially on the road to Tidewater; refer to the National Geographic field guide for the fine points of identification.