Blue-winged Warbler (Vermivora cyanoptera) Family: Parulidae By Grace Yaros, Houston Audubon Coastal Conservation Technician Blue-winged Warblers are small, dashing warblers; males have brilliant yellow faces and underparts with greenish backs and light blue-gray wings, two contrasting white wing-bars, and a thick black eye-line. Females are very similar to males, but have more green coloration in […]

Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina) Family: Turdidae (thrushes) By Rachel Myers, Houston Audubon Coastal Conservation Technician The Wood Thrush is a reclusive songbird whose iconic musical, flute-like song can be heard throughout deciduous forests across the Eastern United States in the summer. Wood Thrushes are more common in the spring and fall on the Upper Texas […]

Blue-headed Vireo (Vireo solitarius) Family: Vireonidae By Grace Yaros, Houston Audubon Coastal Conservation Technician Blue-headed Vireos are small, colorful songbirds that can commonly be found along the Upper Texas Coast during winter and migration. Aptly named, they have steely blue-gray heads that contrast with their greenish backs and yellow sides. They are white underneath, and […]

Great-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus) Family: Icteridae (blackbirds, orioles, and allies) By Rachel Myers, Houston Audubon Coastal Conservation Technician The Great-tailed Grackle is North America’s largest grackle and a common permanent resident throughout Texas. They can be found just about anywhere in their range and birders and non birders alike have observed flocks of these loud […]

Merlin (Falco columbaris) Family: Falconidae By Grace Yaros, Houston Audubon Coastal Conservation Technician Merlins are small falcons that can be found throughout much of both the eastern and western hemispheres. Their name comes from the Old French name for this bird, esmerillon. They are slightly larger than American Kestrels, and are gray/brown above and white […]

Royal Tern (Thalasseus maximus) Family: Laridae (Gulls and Terns) By Rachel Myers, Houston Audubon Coastal Conservation Technician The Royal Tern is a year-round resident that nests on the Upper Texas Coast. They are social birds, and often gather on undisturbed beaches and nest in dense colonies. They are easy to distinguish in the breeding and […]

Seaside Sparrow (Ammospiza maritima) Family: Passerellidae By Grace Yaros, Houston Audubon Coastal Conservation Technician Seaside Sparrows are rather large, long-billed sparrows that are found in tidal saltwater marshes and brackish marshes along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Populations that breed from New Hampshire and Maine south through Virginia are migratory or partially migratory, while populations […]

Orange-crowned Warbler (Leiothlypis celata) Family: Parulidae (Wood-Warblers) By Rachel Myers, Houston Audubon Coastal Conservation Technician The Orange-crowned Warbler is a rather inconspicuous species of warbler common to the upper Texas coast during the winter. They can be seen from October through April and are absent during the summer. Due to their rather drab coloring and […]

Sedge Wren (Cistothorus stellaris) Family: Troglodytidae By Grace Yaros, Houston Audubon Coastal Conservation Technician Sedge Wrens are small, well-camouflaged wrens. They are brown all over, with a paler throat and belly and dark streaking on the wings, back, and crown. They can be found in wet habitats with dense grasses and sedges, including coastal marshes […]