Houston Audublog

Raise your hand if you have said or wanted to say CORVID-19 at least once. For some of us bird nerds at Houston Audubon, corvids have been on our minds lately (the corvid family consist of jays, crows, ravens, and magpies). We were also interested to find that there are 19 species of corvid found in the United States. This random tidbit of info led us to create a Corvid-19 crossword puzzle , with fun facts about each species. This crossword is for you if you: ↪ are stuck at home ↪ are stuck at work ↪ are going insane and want to occupy your kids in a fun and educational way ↪ like birds ↪ don't like birds We understand this crossword may be a challenge, so as a last resort , you can visit the Corvidae section of allaboutbirds.org  for help. Click here to download the crossword puzzle. You can also save the image below. I personally plan to assign this to my niece and nephew as a fun competition (using the website as a resource) and give the winner a prize. (I may need...

Hooded Warbler (Setophaga citrina) Family: Parulidae Spring has arrived, and so have Hooded Warblers. You may have noticed this beautiful warbler hopping about and flashing its light-edged tail feathers in shrubs near you. The males of this species are yellow, have a darker yellow back and tail, and a distinct black “hood.” The females and immature birds are less distinguishable, possessing a darker yellow crown instead of a hood. Females and immature birds have pale pink bills, rather than the black bills of the mature males. Males will move out of the shadows of the forest understory to sing a song that sounds like “weeta weeta weeta weetee a” to some. One male and one female normally occupy and defend a territory together during breeding season. Males defend their territories from other males by spreading their wings out, tucking their heads down, and moving their heads side to side before chasing or attacking the intruder. Males will often mate with other females besides their...

Spring Native Plant Gardening Sarah Flournoy, March 18, 2020 We rushed back home from a trip cut short last week to find our garden popping with blooms. Since then, we’ve been happily adjusting, trimming, photographing, and making plans for more yard updates as we revel in our creation. We sit on the back patio with binoculars, patiently waiting for the first spring migrants, and we also enjoy the usual jays, finches, and robins as they bathe and feed. Most of the plants in our garden came from Houston Audubon’s Natives Nursery and associated plant sales. Our main goals for the front and back yard are diversity, experimentation, seasonality, and enjoyment. We have over 70 species of plants even though we live on a small lot (5000 sq. ft)! The trees are starting to leaf out and new plants are blooming every day, so we hope to provide an update and more pictures as the garden progresses. If you have comments about your own gardening adventures this spring, please make them bel...

Prairie Warbler (Setophaga discolor) Family: Parulidae Now that it’s officially the second half of March, we’re all getting excited because warbler migration season is almost here! Some warblers are beginning to show up around Houston already, and we’re looking forward to seeing them all in our sanctuaries (and backyards) again. Warblers are always a sure sign of the arrival of spring, and many bird enthusiasts enjoy watching their bright colors and active behaviors as they migrate north for the breeding season. The Prairie Warbler is an early migrant, so it is often one of the first warblers to show up every spring. In the spring sun, the Prairie Warbler shines bright yellow below, with dull grayish-olive upper-parts and chestnut streaks down its back. The distinctive pattern of dark or blackish lines on its otherwise bright yellow face is also a good field mark for identifying a Prairie Warbler. While warblers are best known for their amazing variety of colors and patterns, th...

Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca) Family: Anatidae Male Green-winged Teal have black bills, red-brown heads with a thick green band stretching from the eyes to the nape of the neck, white bands on the shoulders, lighter tan speckled breasts, thick, dark-green bands on the lower parts of the wings, and thinner white bands bordering the green on the top and bottom. The females are grey-brown and mottled, have darker patches on the top of the head, darker eyelines, and dark green speculums with cream-colored bands on the top and bottom. The Green-winged Teal is the smallest dabbling duck in North America. Green-winged Teal will feed by dabbling in shallow water, and then lift their food out of the water to consume it, which is a behavior unique to dabbling ducks. They filter out the mud with their bills when they are foraging. Their diet, which is dependent on location and season, consists of the seeds of wetland plants such as grasses, sedges, smartweeds, and pondweeds, and aquati...

Have you ever been minding your own business when you hear that dreadful thud of a bird colliding with your window? Unfortunately, up to 1 billion birds die each year from window collisions. Why are such smart animals so clumsy? Well, it’s because (most) humans can use door frames, reflections, and other visual cues to anticipate the presence of glass. Birds, on the other hand, perceive reflected images as literal objects, so they fly into windows looking for food, shelter, or an escape route. Good news, though! You can help these beloved little creatures of ours with a few precautions. Good: Putting sticky notes or some other marker on the inside of glass can help. Better: Decals, tape, paint, netting, and shutters on the outside of glass are all great options. Best: Get some screens for your windows! Ideally, you should eliminate any space larger than two inches , so birds see no viable way to fly between the decals/other objects that you’re sticking on your windows. ...

Common Loon (Gavia immer) Family: Gaviidae Known for its hauntingly eerie yodeling song and gaudy summer colors, the Common Loon is often considered a symbol of northern boreal lakes – it’s even featured on the Canadian dollar coin. However, during these winter months when boreal lakes are frozen over, many Common Loons venture toward both the east and west coasts of North America, as well as the Gulf of Mexico, to spend the winter in warmer waters. In winter plumage, both male and female Common Loons are mostly brown above and white below with splotchy white patches on their face and neck. They sit low in the water, often with their backs only slightly above the surface, and almost never venture onto solid ground. While they are wintering in our area, Common Loons can be found on open water, where they often dive under the surface of the water to catch fish and crustaceans to eat. Even with binoculars, however, Common Loons may be hard to keep an eye on, since they are kno...