Houston Audublog

Snowy Plover (Charadrius nivosus) Family: Charadriidae The Snowy Plover blends in so well with its beach environment that at first glance it may seem to be just part of the beach. It is light, sandy gray above and white below, with a thin black bill and gray legs. In its breeding plumage, the Snowy Plover also has dark spots on its forehead and behind its eyes, as well as on the sides of its neck, which give it a partial necklace.  The Snowy Plover is an active beachgoer, often seen running around energetically in search of worms and insects to eat. Snowy Plovers rarely just walk, rather they start running directly from a standstill and can change direction and stop just as abruptly. Young Snowy Plovers learn to follow in their parents’ footsteps very quickly, and they are able to run around on their own as soon as a few hours after hatching.  In the Houston area, Snowy Plovers are most easily found on coastal beaches, where they prefer large, flat areas of mostly...

White-faced Ibis (Plegadis chihi) Family: Threskiornithidae The White-faced Ibis is a medium-sized wading bird with greenish iridescent wings and a deep reddish-brown head and body. It has a patch of bright white skin on its face and a hefty downward-curved bill, which it uses to probe for food such as insects, worms, frogs, and crabs. White-faced Ibis can be found in marshy areas where there is plenty of shallow water and mud for foraging. When in flight, the White-faced Ibis holds its head straight out forward and its feet straight backward, which gives it a very flat profile and makes its curved bill easily noticeable.  White-faced Ibis can be found across the plains and prairies west of the Mississippi River and – in the summer months – as far north as Canada. They in are the Houston area year-round, though flocks of White-faced Ibis tend to move around day to day in search of marshes with optimal water depths for feeding.  The White-faced Ibis is very simila...

The peak of the summer heat is waning and fall migration is right around the corner. Our High Island sanctuaries are open, and while little can compare to a spring fallout, we still see good numbers and diversity of migrants during September and October. It’s also the time of year we receive a few reports from visitors who were stopped in their tracks and unable to continue on because of an unsuspecting, nightmarish scene along the trails, particularly in Smith Oaks Sanctuary. Like a scene from the movie Arachnophobia , the golden silk orb-weaver (Trichonephila clavipes) is prominent and ominously displayed throughout High Island during this time of year. While most people have their binoculars scanning the trees during Spring, a trained eye can notice one of High Island’s most notorious residents emerging from egg sacs laid by mature adults the previous year and taking up position along the trails. Juvenile golden silk orb-weavers are small and easily overlooked in the spring, ha...

Acadian Flycatcher (Empidonax virescens) Family: Tyrannidae The Acadian Flycatcher is a bird that experienced birders will often consider a challenge to identify. The Acadian Flycatcher, along with about a dozen other species of North American flycatchers, belongs to the Empidonax family, and species within Empidonax can only really be identified by very small details, of which only their calls are truly distinctive. And, if that wasn’t challenging enough, many Empidonax flycatchers are completely silent when away from their breeding grounds and during migration.  The call of the Acadian Flycatcher is surprisingly powerful for such a small bird, and, as such, Acadian Flycatchers are often heard before they are seen. Their call is two-syllabled, often described as “pit-see!” with a sharp rising inflection on the second syllable.  There are five species of Empidonax flycatchers that pass through the Houston area during migration – Acadian, Yellow-bellied, Least, W...