Beak of the Week – Carolina Chickadee

Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis) Family: Paridae By Grace Yaros, Houston Audubon Coastal Conservation Technician Carolina Chickadees are familiar birds across much of the southeastern United States, at home in urban and suburban environments and readily coming to birdfeeders. They have gray backs and wings and are whitish below with a pale orange wash on their […]

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Connecting to Nature with Madres del Parque

By Maria Hernandez and Mayra Muñiz, Madres del Parque Madres del Parque is always looking for different ways to connect our community with nature, bringing awareness to the importance of the care and preservation of our green spaces and wildlife. Since we’ve partnered with Houston Audubon, our events are more exciting and educational. Parents and […]

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Beak of the Week – White-tailed Kite

White-tailed Kite (Elanus leucurus) Family: Accipitridae By Grace Yaros, Houston Audubon Coastal Conservation Technician Simultaneously elegant and fierce, White-tailed Kites are medium-sized raptors, related to hawks and eagles. They are white underneath and gray above, with a bold wing pattern. They have distinct black shoulder patches, and when viewed from underneath, they also have black […]

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Beach-nesting Birds Mid-Season Update

By Grace Yaros, Houston Audubon Coastal Conservation Technician Summer is heating up– as is the 2024 beach-nesting bird season! The first Wilson’s Plover nest of the season was discovered at San Luis Pass on April 16th, and the birds have been keeping busy ever since! So far this season, a total of 20 Wilson’s Plover […]

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Membership has its benefits

By Kenena Hanson, Houston Audubon Member Growing up with autism, it can be difficult to make connections with other people. I have been in love with birds from a very young age and have always wanted to be around them. Expressing my love for birds can seem obsessive to someone on the outside, but with […]

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You Can’t Recycle Your Way Out of This: Why we need to stop single-use plastic

By Jesi Malowitz, Senior Development Associate, Houston Audubon July is here, and with it comes scorching Houston summers and a global movement to protect our environment: Plastic-Free July!  Plastic pollution is a well-documented environmental crisis, especially here in Houston where, after a heavy rain, our bayous get inundated with plastic litter, bound for the ocean […]

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Coexisting with Black Vultures

By Tricia Lydick, Houston Methodist Research Institute It started with a rustle of feathers and the occasional eerie cry, but soon, Black Vultures had claimed our balcony as their own. Four years ago, we were unsure about these unusual visitors, but we quickly learned that it’s not uncommon for vultures to lay eggs on hard […]

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Behind the Veil- Smith Oaks Rookery Expansion and Resiliency Project, 6 years later

By Schyler Brown, Wyatt Egelhoff (Conservation Specialists) & Pete Deichmann, Land Conservation Director, Houston Audubon Six years ago, in May 2018, all that remained was a hastily assembled jumble of sticks sitting atop a 6’ by 8’ skeleton platform. Houston Audubon staff had installed the fenced platform in the hopes of attracting a few nesting […]

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Birding on the road

By Brenda and Ivan Castillo Like many, my wife and I started our birding journey as a way to spend more time outdoors. Our first exposure was a guided bird walk put on by Houston Audubon. It was very eye opening to have all that wildlife activity pointed out to us by the incredibly knowledgeable […]

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Beak of the Week – Purple Gallinule

Purple Gallinule (Porphyrula martinica) Family: Rallidae By Grace Yaros, Houston Audubon Coastal Conservation Technician These multicolored, curious-looking birds are relatives of rails, and like many other rails are fond of wetland habitats with plenty of places to hide from potential predators. Adult Purple Gallinules have dark purple-blue heads and underparts, with a contrasting bright white […]

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