Houston Audublog

Here is a list of five common species you can see and hear during spring in Texas, using Houston eBird data for Harris County. Yellow-billed Cuckoo Dan Vickers/Macaulay Library ( S55087581 ) This sometimes skulking species occurs regularly in Houston, as evidenced by the eBird range maps (including current reports in orange) . During migration, you may see it much more frequently than during breeding seasons, when individuals can be especially hard to see. This cuckoo is a loud and distinct nocturnal vocalizer, with a vocalization reminiscent of individual or sequential chuckling gurgles; and often it is MUCH easier to hear during nocturnal migration than it is to see during the day! Here are some examples of nocturnal calls: 1 , 2 , 3 . Here are some additional examples as recorded by observers submitting to eBird and Macaulay Library . Upland Sandpiper Luke Seitz/Macaulay Library ( S36282564 ) This wonderful shorebird is a frequent feature of native short-grass grassl

Spring bird migration is in its peak over Texas, filling Houston with a plethora of colorful, melodious visitors. Turning out nonessential lights from April 19 - May 7 is one of the most impactful local actions you can make to save the lives of birds on their journey. As an extension of the city-wide Lights Out for Birds program, Houston Audubon has partnered with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to launch Lights Out Texas - a science-based campaign with the goal of protecting migratory birds from the deadly hazards of artificial light. Here are the facts: Houston is a crucial, yet dangerous flyway for migratory birds. 1 of every 3 birds migrating through the U.S. in spring passes through Texas. Houston ranks second among U.S. cities in exposing migrating birds to the hazards created by light pollution, trailing only Chicago. Most migratory birds fly at night, and the bright lights of commercial and residential buildings attract and disorient them - causing collisions or exhausting

Cerulean Warbler (Setophaga cerulea) Family: Parulidae Everyone’s favorite blue warbler has started to arrive in Texas, all the way from South America and on their way to more northerly breeding grounds. Male Cerulean Warblers are stormy blue, with faint gray streaking on top with white throats, bellies, and wingbars. Females are more dusky on top, have faint cream-colored eyebrows to match the underside, and lack a blue stripe across the throat. If you are lucky and if you keep your gaze in the canopy, you may see them foraging for insects on these upper branches. Cerulean warblers feed mostly on insects such as flies, beetles, and caterpillars, by picking them off of leaves and branches. They will add a little bit of vegetation to their diet during winter. As well as feeding in the forest canopy, Cerulean Warblers will nest in the canopy as well. They build their nests near openings in the canopy, under the cover of dense vegetation. These warblers prefer to build their nests in

We'd like to share this wonderful report from Jim Winn of Birdathon team Eager Egrets, which includes our friends Skip Almoney, Ben Hulsey, and Betsy and Jim Winn . It's a great example of how to participate in Birdathon during these unprecedented times. In addition to a "virtual team," you can also participate in Digital Birding! Click here to learn more. --- Friends, Lots of migrants have come through our area this spring.  We know that from reports of our Galveston friends.  However, the big invasion was the week prior to our Birdathon day, Thursday, April 16th.  Nevertheless, 103 species were found. The weather was perfect for time spent outdoors and we certainly need some of that. With six feet apart restrictions, the Birdathon rules were revised to allow us to bird different areas on the same day.  Betsy and I birded from the roads in the Katy Prairie, Skip birded the wooded east side of Hermann Park and around McGovern Lake, and Ben birded Willow Waterho

Are you running out of home projects to keep busy during the quarantine? Here’s one my hubby made for me that you can try: a DYI Dripper. I’ve long wanted a bird dripper to complement my yard’s wildlife habitat, and with spring migrants on the way, I was keen to provide a drip that will attract new birds that don’t visit feeders. I had a problem though. There is no water line or power source near my feeders. The idea of stringing a hose or wire across the driveway just isn’t practical. Enter the engineer. My husband thought about the location and the limitations for a bit, and came up with the concept of sourcing water for a dripper off the sprinkler system. By using a toilet tank that fills every time the sprinklers run, water can be constantly available for the drip. I nixed the idea of a toilet tank sitting in my yard though, so he made some aesthetic modifications by installing a toilet tank float inside a 5 gallon bucket hidden inside a custom wooden box with a handsome copper p

Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus) Family: Cuculidae Spring migration is often synonymous with the arrival of flashy yellow birds flitting through the treetops. But the Yellow-billed Cuckoo - our Beak of the Week - has only a little bit of yellow to add to the mix. Yellow-billed Cuckoos appear slender and clean-cut, with their upperparts brown and undersides white. They have long tails with white spots underneath, their wings have patches of reddish-brown, and – you guessed it – they have yellowish bills. Despite being comparable in size to Blue Jays, Yellow-billed Cuckoos are often hard to spot as they move sneakily and quietly through the treetops looking for insects to eat. They feed primarily on caterpillars, which many other species of insectivorous birds will avoid, but they will also catch other insects in flight. When their food sources are particularly abundant, nesting Yellow-billed Cuckoos will occasionally lay an egg in a nearby nest belonging to another

Next time you visit Edith L. Moore Nature Sanctuary, you will notice 35 new native trees and shrubs, all marked with green tape. These new additions were procured and planted by Caleb Wilson, an intrepid young Boy Scout working to earn his Eagle Scout ranking. Caleb led a group of about 20 other scouts, students and friends in a successful restoration project on Saturday, March 7. Aside from the planting, the scouts pulled invasive weeds and groomed the trails. This project was a big undertaking, and we were so impressed with how Caleb managed it. Before the actual work happened, he visited the sanctuary on numerous occasions, meeting with staff and volunteers to get a sense of which plants were needed to improve the habitat. Once he had a thorough handle on that, he presented his project proposal for approval from the parents and scout leaders. His project was approved and he raised over $600 to purchase plants, supplies, and food for his crew. One surprising hurdle was finding

American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla) Family: Parulidae It’s a monarch butterfly, it’s a flying jack-o-lantern, no it’s an American Redstart! The mature male American Redstart looks like it’s perpetually dressed for Halloween with its stark black head, breast, back, wings, and tail, and bright orange patches on the flanks, wings, and sides of the tail to contrast the white belly. The females and immature birds are more subdued with gray heads, breasts, backs, wings, and tails, and yellow patches. The patches are thought to startle and help capture prey when redstarts flash their tails and move their wings. These birds will catch insects in midair, a less common behavior among other warbler species. This behavior is more common among males during breeding season. They will also eat insects off of leaves, twigs, and other surfaces. The American Redstart’s diet consists mainly of insects such as flies, moths, caterpillars, aphids, spiders, and craneflies. They will eat small fruits

Prescribed Fire for Habitat Management Pete Deichmann, Coastal Sanctuaries Manager On March 5, 2020, we executed a prescribed fire at Bolivar Flats Shorebird Sanctuary with our friends at US Fish and Wildlife Service and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department . March 5, 2020 Bolivar Flats Shorebird Sanctuary Temperature - 55 degrees  Relative humidity - 60%  Surface winds - Northeast at 21 mph Transport wind speeds - North at 20 mph Mixing height - 2800 feet  When planning a prescribed fire, one becomes somewhat of an amateur meteorologist. There are multiple factors, both environmental and anthropogenic, that must fall into place to safely and efficiently conduct a prescribed burn, but first, why would we want to burn a wildlife sanctuary? Most ecosystems in Texas, along with their assembly of plants and animals, have evolved with regular disturbance from wildfires. Historically, these fires were started by lightning strikes and carried across the landscape until they fiz

Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea) Family: Cardinalidae Feeling blue because you’ve been staying inside all the time recently? You’re not alone! Indigo Buntings spend all of their time outside, and they’re quite blue too. Indigo Buntings are in the same family as Cardinals and Grosbeaks – a group that includes many vibrantly colored species. However, Indigo Buntings are easy to recognize because their vibrant blue coloring stands out against almost any leafy background. Adult male Indigo Buntings are deep blue all over, and their habit of perching on the exposed tips of branches also makes them very conspicuous when singing. Female Indigo Buntings are mostly brown at first glance, but they have blue patches in their wings and tail that make them easy to spot in flight. Indigo Buntings are just now beginning their journey northward across the United States, so keep watch in your backyard and perhaps one will stop by. By Aidan Healey, Conservation Technician Photos by Greg Lav