Beak of the Week – American Oystercatcher

American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliates) Family: Haematopodidae By Spencer Poling, Houston Audubon Coastal Conservation Technician This week’s Beak of the Week, the American Oystercatcher, is one that would be difficult to confuse with any other species in the area. Oystercatchers, family Haematopodidae, are known to frequent coasts around most of the world and for their bright […]

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Beak of the Week – Loggerhead Shrike

Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus) Family: Laniidae By Colleen McDonough, Houston Audubon Coastal Conservation Technician The Loggerhead Shrike, nicknamed “butcherbird”, is a songbird with unexpected carnivorous tendencies. Similar in size to a cardinal, shrikes are mostly gray with a black eye mask, hooked bill, and white wing patches visible in flight. The Loggerhead Shrike is one […]

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Great Lakes Piping Plover Spotted at Bolivar Flats Shorebird Sanctuary

Wyatt Egelhoff, Sanctuary Manager, Houston Audubon We’re excited to introduce everyone to a “new” Piping Plover at Bolivar Flats – “VGV” (short for ”Violet, Dark Green, Violet”)! This female Piping Plover was born in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore (Lake Superior), Wisconsin  in 2023. She returned to the area in 2024 and this past summer […]

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Plastic-Free July: Innovative Solutions in the Fight Against Plastic Pollution

By Schyler Brown, Bird-Friendly Communities Program Manager, Houston Audubon It’s Plastic-Free July, which means acknowledging and finding ways to reduce our plastic use and waste. Each week in July, we shared a different kind of plastic pollution and how it impacts birds and wildlife.  In previous weeks, we discussed some of the different kinds of […]

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Plastic-Free July: The Harmful Truth about Plastic’s Beginnings

By Schyler Brown, Bird-Friendly Communities Program Manager, Houston Audubon It’s Plastic-Free July, which means acknowledging and finding ways to reduce our plastic use and waste. Each week in July, we will be sharing a different kind of plastic pollution and how it impacts birds and wildlife. This week, we are talking about plastic production and […]

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Plastic-Free July: Micro-plastic Pollution

By Schyler Brown, Bird-Friendly Communities Program Manager, Houston Audubon It is Plastic-Free July, which means acknowledging and finding ways to reduce our plastic use and waste. Each week in July, we will be sharing a different kind of plastic pollution and how it impacts birds and wildlife. This week, we are talking about macro-plastics and […]

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A Promising Spring for Bolivar’s Beach-nesting Birds

Wyatt Egelhoff, Sanctuary Manager and Victoria Parker-Thacker, Seasonal Coastal Avian Technician, Houston Audubon Shortly before the woods fill with migrating songbirds, Houston Audubon staff spring into action, readying the beaches of the Bolivar Peninsula for the arrival of our beach-nesting birds in mid-March. For over a decade, Houston Audubon has monitored and stewarded several key […]

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Plastic-Free July: Macro-plastic Pollution

By Schyler Brown, Bird-Friendly Communities Program Manager, Houston Audubon It is Plastic-Free July, which means acknowledging and finding ways to reduce our plastic use and waste. Each week in July, we will be sharing a different kind of plastic pollution and how it impacts birds and wildlife. This week, we are talking about macro-plastics and […]

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Beak of the Week – Cape May Warbler

Cape May Warbler (Setophaga tigrina) Family: Parulidae By Theresa Kelly, Houston Audubon Coastal Conservation Technician This week’s Beak of the Week may be more easily recognized by its common name — Cape May Warbler — but its taxonomic species tigrina is a more apt descriptor. Adults boast a bright yellow face, breast, and belly, with […]

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Beak of the Week – Green Heron

Green Heron (Butorides virescens) Family: Ardeidae By Nick Minnich, Houston Audubon Coastal Conservation Technician This week’s Beak is often referred to as “daggerlike,” a perfect tool in the hunt for fish and amphibians. Green Herons are a short, compact heron who often prefer to stand on water’s edge vegetation as opposed to wading in the […]

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