Houston Audublog

Houston Bird Week 2020 just wrapped up and we at Houston Audubon couldn’t be more pleased with the turnout, despite the challenges of a global pandemic and Tropical Storm Beta inundating the region with up to 14 inches of water! Thanks to our partners in conservation, this second annual Bird Week boasted a calendar full of virtual and socially-distanced in-person events for bird nerds near and far! Events ranged from bird walks and birding classes to presentations on conservation initiatives and a super fun trivia night! Let’s take a look at Houston Bird Week by the numbers! We also got a  feature article in the Houston Chronicle and an article in Houstonia Magazine , among other press. If you missed out on the Bird Week fun, you can still participate. Virtual events allowed us to not only reach people outside of Houston, but to record and share the presentations for folks like you! ·     Local Purple Martin expert, Matt Fendley, came to the rescue with a ...

Eurasian Collared-Dove (Streptopelia decaocto) Family: Columbidae Next time you go out on a walk around your neighborhood and pass a Eurasian Collared-Dove perched on a powerline, you might want to hold on to your wallet. We see these pale, chunky birds in the U.S. partly because of a 1970s pet store burglary in the Bahamas. And although they may look shifty, this robbery was the doing of humans, not doves. After escaping from the pet store, they made it to Florida by the early 1980s. From there, Eurasian Collared-Doves were free to spread across North America, and spread they did. These birds are now found up to Southern Canada, down into Mexico, across the Caribbean, northern South America, Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, Japan, and Asia. Granted, these invasions are not all due to burglarized pet stores. That’s quite a journey from their native lands in Europe and Asia. Even though this is an introduced species, so far there are no proven negative effects on related native bi...

Stilt Sandpiper (Calidris himantopus) Family: Scolopacidae Our Beak of the Week is another one of those tricky shorebirds. Having legs too short for a yellowlegs and a bill too short for a dowitcher, the Stilt Sandpiper can easily puzzle birders.  It actually belongs to the Calidris genus with the “peeps”, including Least Sandpipers and Dunlin. However, it has long, yellow-green legs and a long, drooping black bill that give it a yellowlegs appearance. It is also relatively large for a peep, being around the size of a Lesser Yellowlegs. In the breeding season from April to August, it has heavy, dark barring with a rufous cap and cheek patch. This ornate plumage fades to a dull gray in the nonbreeding season, although it keeps its distinct white eyebrow year-round. In flight, you may notice a white rump and a white band under the wings. Perhaps the easiest way to identify a Stilt Sandpiper is by their foraging behavior. They are often seen in belly-deep water, probing deeply and rap...

Wilson’s Warbler (Cardellina pusilla) Family: Parulidae The Wilson’s Warbler is well known for its constant motion while foraging. Even when perched, it tends to wag its tail and flick its wings. This bird is a common migrant that is often seen in the fall in the Houston area. It prefers to use its small, pointed beak to hunt for insects in low, dense thickets near water rather than the forest interior. The males are easy to identify with their black cap that looks like a toupee, yellow face, and olive cheek. They are unmarked yellow below with a uniform, yellow-olive back and dark tail. Females and immature birds have an olive cap, although it is black and smaller in some females. They exhibit slight plumage variation depending on the region in which the Wilson’s Warbler is found. Eastern birds typically have a brighter yellow face and are smaller than western birds.  Like several other birds, including Wilson’s Phalarope, Wilson’s Snipe, and Wilson’s Plover, the Wilson’s Warbler ...

Pomarine Jaeger (Stercorarius pomarinus) Family: Stercorariidae Though they spend the majority of their lives over the ocean, seabirds such as the Pomarine Jaeger occasionally get blown far inland by tropical storms. At first glance, Pomarine Jaegers may look like a rather large gull with a bulkier profile. They are powerful, direct fliers, and they use this ability to chase after and steal food from other seabirds.  Pomarine Jaegers come in two different color morphs – light and dark – of which the light morph is more common. Light morph Pomarine Jaegers are dark-backed and light-chested, with a dark cap on their head that extends over much of the face and a strong dark band across their chest. They have a long beak that is hooked at the tip, and two spoon-shaped central tail feathers that project beyond the rest of the tail. Dark morph Pomarine Jaegers have a similar bulky shape, hefty hooked bill and unique tail feathers, but they are dark even on the underside. All P...