Houston Audublog

It doesn’t take much effort to find advice on how to support birds. In fact, a simple Google search produces hundreds of helpful resources in a matter of seconds. So, if the information is out there, then why are so few people taking action? The answer is both simple, and extremely complicated. In short – knowledge alone is often not enough to change peoples’ behaviors. Our decisions, whether we are buying a new car or planting native plants, are often governed by an internal process – assessing our resources, weighing pros and cons, and seeking advice from outside sources. To move people to action, we have to have an understanding of that decision-making process and create strategies that not only fuel and sustain motivation, but also work to help overcome barriers that keep people from finding success.  With this in mind, Houston Audubon’s Young Professionals Advisory Council (YPAC) has embarked on a mission to uncover the things people find most challenging (barriers) and most ...

By Sneed B. Collard III On a balmy, pre-covid morning in June 2019, I arrived at the W.G. Jones State Forest at 5:45 a.m. There I was met by an enthusiastic biologist named Donna Work. Why? So that she could teach me about one of the world’s most intriguing birds, the Red-cockaded Woodpecker. Red-cockaded Woodpeckers, or RCWOs, once occupied an immense swath of pine forest stretching from New Jersey to Florida, and west to Texas and Oklahoma. Since the early 1800s, however, human activities—including logging, farming, damming, and urban sprawl—have whittled the birds’ favored long leaf pine habitat from between 60 and 90 million acres down to about three million acres. Not surprisingly, RCWO populations plummeted from approximately 1.6 million family groups, or “clusters”, to an estimated 7,800 clusters today. In fact, the Red-cockaded Woodpecker was one of the first birds to be listed as Endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Remarkably, a few RCWO clusters can be found ...

I awoke well before dawn on April 6, 2019. A night of fitful, anxious sleep pushed me out of bed. After a year of planning, I was eager to start work at Smith Oaks Bird Sanctuary in High Island, Texas. Walking about a quarter of a mile east into the sanctuary, I reached the rookery in the middle of Claybottom Pond. I placed my microphones next to the pond, scrambled up a small hill, nestled myself under a tunnel of trees, and pressed ‘Record’. Over the next 45 minutes in the pre-dawn light, I listened to the sounds of hundreds of water birds reverberate across the pond, through the trees, and into my headphones. It was a moment I’ll never forget. That recording was the first of hundreds my team and I would make on our 2,000+ mile journey from the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana to the Minnesota/Canada border. This effort was part of the ‘Voices of a Flyway’ project that I dreamt into existence over the previous year. Supported by National Geographic, our team of three followed a...

I live in the southwest Houston neighborhood of Willow Meadows. We have a typical lot for the area, about 9,500 square feet, with about 2,500 square feet of backyard. There was a mature pecan tree along with a fig tree, citrus trees, a hibiscus, and a palm tree I had planted before I learned about the importance of planting native plants. I knew from a short-lived experiment with raised bed vegetable gardening that gardening requires constant attention and maintenance, so for my next project I wanted to create a landscape that was interesting, easy to manage, unlikely to be ruined by dogs or children, and of course bird-friendly. Enter: container gardens. Containers are great because it's easy to change plants out, keep weeds down, and add color and texture to your landscape. You don't need as many tools to plant in containers and native plants will do fine with any organic potting soil available in bags at the hardware store.  PLANNING I wanted the containers to sit on gravel,...

Over the past couple of years, I have been learning more about birds and how to help them (involuntarily, as my sister started working at Houston Audubon and became very interested in birds). I have always had a couple of feeders in the backyard, but I started planting native plants, put out a birdbath, and increased the number of feeders I have out.  On Saturday, I saw a post on Houston Audubon's Instagram about how to help birds during the impending winter storm, and decided to take some extra precautions. My backyard shares a fence with a golf course that provides lots of tree cover for the birds already. The back corner of the yard has some bushes and native plants, and provides a nice natural windbreak.  On Sunday, I scattered a bunch of black oil sunflower seeds and mixed seeds on the ground and restocked all the feeders. I refilled the feeders twice daily through Thursday and checked in periodically to remove any ice buildup from the intermittent snow and rain. On Monda...

One of the unintended benefits of having to stay home during this pandemic is an added appreciation for the commonplace beauty of our households, backyards, and parks. Being a senior in high school and eagerly anticipating college, I have always taken the comforts of my home for granted. It was through birdwatching during this pandemic - listening to the “tweedle-dees” of blue jays and “tink calls” of cardinals at my bird feeder - that I discovered just how special home could be. But for all the casual birdwatching I did last summer, my busy schedule left a lot unseen - like going to a buffet with a dessert plate. Holding up binoculars to get a shaky, close-up view of the birds didn’t make it any more appealing. So, like almost everything else this year, I decided to go virtual with my birdwatching! I initially considered installing a webcam near the bird feeder, but I still faced the “24/7 observation issue,” meaning I would have to constantly watch the feeder in the hopes of spotti...

By Glenn Olsen There is so much excitement surrounding spring bird migration and rightfully so, as many colorful and interesting birds return to North America for breeding. I enjoy spring migration, but I also look forward to winter birding with equal excitement as spring!  Resident Birds Naturally, we have our resident birds, such as the stunning Cardinals and the Mockingbirds that serenade us even during winter. A couple of other resident birds include the Carolina Chickadee and the House Finch . While House Finches are typically a rose color, interestingly, I have seen them in variants of orange and yellow, which can be attributed to diet. December to March is perhaps the best time to see our resident Great Horned Owls , which can be heard calling after dark as they begin their mating rituals. While listening for Great Horned Owls, be sure to keep an ear out for Eastern Screech-Owls calling as well.  Wintering Birds There are many species of interesting birds that only ...

It feels like it was just yesterday when I was laughing mindlessly with a trash bag in hand and a trash picker in the other. As my friends and I picked up the discarded pieces of plastic and styrofoam along the creek of Edith Moore Sanctuary, I felt as if my body was lost in time, both focused on gathering trash, as well as feeling joyous that everyone around me was having so much fun doing something that would seem otherwise mundane: cleaning up a creek. The only thing is, this was before the nationwide lockdown due to COVID-19.  Navigating Volunteer-Work and Coronavirus During the months of sheltering inside for the safety of our community, the extra time we had spent on community service was suddenly staring us in our faces. With little to no in-person volunteer opportunities available, it was hard to imagine how we could help make a difference in our community. Several months later when businesses, parks, and stores began reopening, I felt both relief and shaken anxiety. There ...

By Julie d'Ablaing, Houston Audubon Natives Nursery Volunteer As we are both educated and encouraged to increase the diversity of native plants in our home landscapes to support the wide range of pollinators and birds that are under threat, one overlooked niche may be under the mower blades!   As a beekeeper, I am thankful for the early flowering clovers, in grassy areas in my neighborhood, although they are frowned upon by many residents as weeds in their lawns!  They help sustain the earliest of our nectar seekers.  As a naturalist I note the Herbertia, Sabatia, and the sprawling legumes, Neptunia and Mimosa spp., that are native “weeds”  supporting the more specialist native bees and butterflies. Tropical Puff ( Neptunia pubescens ), a host plant for the Ceraunus Blue ( Hemiargus ceraunus ) butterfly. On the almost desolate, non-irrigated mowed grass areas of the Copperfield Trail, dominated by Bermuda grass, Tropical Puff ( Neptunia pubescens ), a creeping...

Introduction to Habitat Gardening by Glenn Olsen Gardening for birds and butterflies is growing increasingly popular with urban and sub-urban homeowners, especially during our stay at home period. This style of gardening utilizes plants (especially native plants) that benefit birds and butterflies. Additionally, we want to build structure in our yard, that is, plant in a way to create habitat, places where birds or butterflies feel safe, find food, rest, build a nest or seek shelter. This structure is similar to the way plants grow in nature. In addition to the beauty and joy of having birds and butterflies in your garden, it can be-come a retreat in which you can relax, enjoy and contemplate in your own nature oasis. Our winter months are a great time to get organized for a spring garden or landscape project. This is the time to plan which plants you want and where you want them in your yard. Also, if any flower bed preparation or pathways need to be created, winter is a good time to ...