Houston Audublog

I had the great pleasure to hang out with Mary Anne Weber, Houston Audubon's Education Director, and Dawn Monachino, Education Specialist, both of whom office out of the Houston Audubon Raptor and Education Center (HAREC) in southeast Houston. Dawn gave me a tour of the sanctuary, which I was very eager to check out since it was my first time there. The Animals Now, the first thing to know about HAREC is that it is not just about the birds. They do have other animals in their care as well. The first one I met was Pickles, a 6 month old opossum. Some of the other education animals are: Mac & Cheese - Corn Snake Donut - Ball Python Salsa - Smooth-sided Toad Marcia - Three-toed Box Turtle Licorice - Costa Rican Zebra Tarantula And then, there were the birds. I have met several of them over the years by helping Mary Anne with Owl Prowls, but now I got to see them at their home, and it was pretty special. Percy* - Eastern Screech Owl Emilio - Purple Martin  Juliet* - ...

Fulvous Whistling-Duck (Dendrocygna bicolor) Family: Anatidae The Fulvous Whistling-Duck can generally be found visiting the Houston area during the summer breeding season. They visit our area while most species of North American waterfowl are breeding further north, taking up residence in marshy ponds, irrigated fields, and coastal wetlands. While their regular migration may be rather well understood, seemingly errant flocks of Fulvous Whistling-Ducks have been known to stray hundreds of miles from their usual range, showing up in places as far as the Dakotas, Canada and Hawaii. These wandering flocks may stay for only a few days, or they may remain in their new home long enough to breed and establish a new local population. Fulvous Whistling-Ducks have long necks and long legs, which give them a different overall shape from many other North American waterfowl, especially when standing or walking on land. They are warm brown overall, with a darker brown back and wings. When seen...

COVID-19 has changed everything for me. It has been one of the rare moments in my adult life where I have had a second to breathe and reassess everything. I’ve reconnected with family and friends, started eating better, bought a bike and lost 12 lbs.  However, there was one reconnection that meant the most to me. I became a birder on my ninth birthday. My mom gave me a pair of binoculars, a bird book and put a bird feeder in front of my window. After that, much of my childhood was spent with my eyes fixed on the feeder, hoping that a bird I had never seen before would show up for me to ID.  As I got older, I moved away from birding. Mainly because I was trying to shed the things I thought made me nerdy, and I may have dropped my binoculars one too many times. When I went to college at Ohio State University, I majored in Fisheries and Wildlife Management. After taking an Ornithology class, I finally came to my senses and realized that birding was cool, for a select group of...

Red-headed Woodpecker ( Melanerpes erythrocephalus ) Family: Picidae The Red-headed Woodpecker can easily be recognized by – you guessed it – its red head. In fact, the Red-headed Woodpecker’s red head is so vibrantly colored that scientists have given it a Latin name that also means ‘woodpecker with a red head’. Aside from its bright red head, the Red-headed Woodpecker is starkly patterned black and white. It is black-backed with a white front, and large white patches on the wings flash boldly in flight. Red-headed Woodpeckers do not acquire the striking adult plumage until after their first winter; young birds have a similar pattern but are speckled brown and have lighter brownish heads. Red-headed Woodpeckers live in woodland and savanna habitats where there is lots of open space under the tree canopy. They can be found in both natural and urban settings, as long as there are enough food sources and plenty of tree cavities for nesting. Family groups of Red-headed Woodpe...

We're excited to start construction of a new trail at Horseshoe Marsh Bird Sanctuary on the Bolivar Peninsula, bringing back safe access to the sanctuary. This project is one of the first to be developed specifically for the Bolivar Peninsula Nature Trail , a locally supported nature-based tourism initiative. Horseshoe Marsh is Houston Audubon’s second largest sanctuary at 650 acres. This complex of salt marsh, coastal prairie, and a large tidal lagoon provides critical habitat for a range of bird species from the striking Roseate Spoonbill to the secretive Black Rail. Historically, public access has been largely restricted to a short trail with street parking on the East end of the property, which was destroyed by Hurricane Ike in 2008. Since then, visitors have been limited to views from the adjacent public roadways, posing dangers to pedestrians from passing vehicles. In 2017, after acquiring a 17-acre lot adjacent to the sanctuary, our staff began working on a new trail to...

Cave Swallow (Petrochelidon fulva) Family: Hirundinidae The Cave Swallow is an increasingly common species in the greater Houston area. At first glance, the Cave Swallow appears very similar to the closely related (and more abundant) Cliff Swallow. Both species are generally light below and darker above, both species have a buffy rump patch that is easily visible in flight, and both species are often seen foraging for insects in open areas. However, the Cave Swallow is slightly smaller and, if you look closely, the Cave Swallow also has a lighter buffy throat and a darker forehead than does the Cliff Swallow. The Cave Swallow is a colonial nesting species, and colonies historically nested inside the entrances of caves. However, as their range has expanded into areas where caves are not as readily available, Cave Swallows have begun building their nests in culverts and on the underside of bridges. Cave Swallows use mud to build their cup-shaped nests, which are generally more open ...

Every spring, Houston Audubon and other conservation organizations along the Texas coast participate in the Texas Colonial Waterbird Surveys to help monitor population trends in our state’s seabirds and wading birds. Houston Audubon, Audubon Texas and several additional undivided interest owners co-own North Deer Island, the largest and most productive breeding colony in Galveston Bay. During the 2020 survey of North Deer Island, Houston Audubon staff noticed a pelican chick with an unusual bulge in its gular pouch which, upon further inspection, staff realized was caused by a discarded plastic bottle. Thankfully, Audubon Texas Warden, Dennis Jones, was able to approach and remove the bottle from the lucky young Pelican’s pouch. Though this story has a happy ending, many of our coastal birds don’t get as lucky. Single-use plastic poses a threat to wildlife and is particularly dangerous for seabirds and other marine animals. In fact, nearly every species of seabird has been document...