Northern Yellow Warbler (Setophaga aestiva) Family: Parulidae By Spencer Poling, Houston Audubon Coastal Conservation Technician This week’s Beak of the Week is the Northern Yellow Warbler! If you’re already familiar with this bird, you may have noticed the addition of “Northern” to their name. This is because taxonomists have split the Central American Mangrove subspecies […]
Read More
Isaac has been birdwatching for over a decade and is now turning that passion into a career. He spent the first 11 years of his life in southeastern China, then moved to Starkville, Mississippi for school. He received an associate’s degree in animal sciences at East Mississippi Community College and a bachelor’s in biology with […]
Read More
Yellow-breasted Chat (Icteria virens) Family: Icteriidae By Robert Buckert, Houston Audubon Coastal Conservation Technician Chuck! — toop-toop-toop-toop — jedek! — chrrrr —- cherk! This strung out set of onomatopoeias is our best attempt at describing the song of the enigmatic Yellow-breasted Chat (proudly featured on our High Island patch of 2007). Perhaps more useful than […]
Read More
By Lili Banta, Wildlife Photographer Every spring, birders from across the country head to High Island, a small coastal community on the upper Texas Gulf Coast that quietly transforms into one of the most important migration sites in North America [1]. Thanks to its unique position atop a salt dome and its proximity to the […]
Read More
Houston Audubon is sad to share the passing of a dear friend and visionary conservationist, Steven Craig Damuth. Craig didn’t just appreciate nature; he dedicated his life to ensuring it would endure for generations. From his early days birding and fishing in the pineywoods of East Texas, Craig developed a deep-seated belief that habitat was […]
Read More
Great Kiskadee (Pitangus sulphuratus) Family: Tyrannidae By Spencer Poling, Houston Audubon Coastal Conservation Technician This week’s Beak of the Week goes out to the Great Kiskadee that hung around Smith Oaks for nearly three weeks! From March 9-28, this unique flycatcher made birding Smith Oaks extra exciting, with the chance of seeing it at any […]
Read More
Eastern Whip-poor-will (Antrostomus vociferus) Family: Caprimulgidae By Robert Buckert, Houston Audubon Coastal Conservation Technician Have you ever heard of a goatsucker? How about a nightjar? These odd compound words describe the same birds! Nightjars are a group of cryptically plumaged, nocturnal insectivores, belonging to the family Caprimulgidae. They feature earthen tones of browns, grays, and […]
Read More
Hooded Warbler (Setophaga citrina) Family: Parulidae By Spencer Poling, Houston Audubon Coastal Conservation Technician The warblers are finally here! The last couple of weeks have been full of excitement and anticipation as the first warblers are starting to trickle in, leading the charge of millions that will be flooding through the country next month. This […]
Read More
Upland Sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda) Family: Scolopacidae By Robert Buckert, Houston Audubon Coastal Conservation Technician The Upland Sandpiper is a medium-sized shorebird that’s easy to overlook at first glance, but leads a fairly unique life. As a sandpiper that spends its entire life in grassland habitats, it is one of only a few terrestrial shorebirds. Preferring […]
Read More
Marbled Godwit (Limosa fedoa) Family: Scolopacidae By Spencer Poling, Houston Audubon Coastal Conservation Technician This week’s Beak of the Week is devoted to one of my personal favorite shorebirds, the Marbled Godwit! This month is the time to see your favorite wintering shorebirds before many of them leave in April, so this would be my […]
Read More
Houston AuduBlog 