Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (Tyrannus forficatus) Family: Tyrannidae The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher is a slender flycatcher with gray and salmon-pink coloring and an extremely long and deeply forked tail. You may have seen this bird perching on utility lines, treetops and fence lines. As with many species, the male is more intensely colored than the female, but males […]

Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) Family: Mimidae The state bird of Texas, the Northern Mockingbird, is a medium-sized songbird with a slender body and long tail. It is overall grayish brown in color, and has white wing bars that are strikingly visible when in flight. They can be seen in yards, parks, powerlines, forest edges, and […]

Least Tern (Sternula antillarum) Family: Laridae The Least Tern is the smallest of all American terns with a wingspan of 48-53 centimeters and a size between a robin and crow. Least Terns have a black cap ending at a white forehead and a short white eye stripe. They have a light gray back with a […]

Black-whiskered Vireo (Vireo altiloquus) Family: Vireonidae By Wyatt Egelhoff, Houston Audubon Conservation Specialist This denizen of the Caribbean is remarkably similar to the much more familiar (to the US birder) Red-eyed Vireo. Black-whiskered Vireo show less contrast between the gray crown and greenish-brown back and wings than Red-eyed. Black-whiskered have longer, heavier bills with a […]

Wilson’s Plover (Charadrius wilsonia) Family: Charadriidae By Maria Hart Wilson’s Plovers reside on beaches of the southern Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf Coast. They are a medium sized plover with grayish brown upper parts, white underparts, and a pale brown collar. While in breeding plumage, Wilson’s Plovers develop a thick black ring around their neck […]

Common Nighthawk (Chordeiles minor) Family: Caprimulgidae By Will McDaniel The Common Nighthawk is a medium-sized member of the nightjar family ranging from 8.7 to 9.8 inches in length with wingspans between 20 and 24 inches. Excellently camouflaged in drab greys, browns, and blacks that blend into the shadows of tree bark and leaf litter, the […]

Black-crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) Family: Ardeidae Black-crowned Night-Herons are small, stocky herons with short legs and necks. The adults are light gray with a distinct black back and crown, the face and underside are lighter yellowish white with an all-black bill and striking red iris. They also have long narrow white head plumes which can […]

Northern Rough-winged Swallow (Stelgidopteryx serripennis) Family: Hirundinidae By Will McDaniel, former Houston Audubon Coastal Conservation Technician The Northern Rough-winged Swallow is a small species ranging from 5 to 6 inches in length and a wingspan of 11 to 12 inches. Sharing the small head, tiny bill, and long pointed wings of other swallow species, these […]

Black Tern (Chlidonias nigera) Family: Laridae The Black Tern is probably the most aesthetically unique of the terns found in North America. While in breeding plumage the Black Tern has a fully black head, breast, and belly with gray wings and a small slender bill. In the non-breeding season this tern undergoes a significant plumage […]

Olive-sided Flycatcher (Contopus cooperi) Family: Tyrannidae By Jon Piasecki, Houston Audubon Conservation Technician Olive-sided Flycatchers are one of the many species of flycatchers that can be found in the western hemisphere. This species winters in the northern half of South America and parts of Central America. During migration, these birds can be seen primarily throughout […]