Passport to Texas

Environment for the Americas

 Birding Event: International Migratory Bird Day, 2: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

International Migratory Bird Day falls on the second Saturday in May in both the US and Canada.

04-We encourage groups to host a program or an event when it works for them and the birds.

Susan Bonfield is Executive Director of Environment for the Americas, which coordinates this international event. She says the goal is for attendees to experience birds firsthand.

12-I want people to go to these programs and have one of their first opportunities to see a bird. To use binoculars, to use a field guide, to get excited about birds, and to want to become involved in bird conservation.

Find events at www.birdday.org. But if you can’t get to one, don’t fret.

25-You know, your backyard is just a great place to celebrate migratory bird day. I think that anything you do around your house to help conserve birds—we have information up on the website about threats to birds, and what you can do to minimize the threats at your home. Any improvement of habitat in your yard, cleaning your bird feeders. Any very basic and practical activities are a wonderful way to help conserve birds.

You can also just sit in a lawn chair in your yard with a beverage and binoculars and see who comes along.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series and funds conservation projects in Texas.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Image Courtesy National Park Service

 Birding Event: International Migratory Bird Day, 1: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

In the early 1990s, scientists started noticing that some populations of migratory birds were declining.

10-There was a concern about what these causes were, and at the same time there was considerable interest in getting the public involved in learning more about birds and their conservation…

Susan Bonfield is Executive Director of Environment for the Americas. Her non-profit coordinates International Migratory Bird Day, an event created as a direct result of scientists’ concerns over declining avian populations.

12-Several researchers at the Smithsonian Migratory Bird center came up with the idea of hosting a public event to get communities involved in learning about birds. And that was the origins of International Migratory Bird Day.

It is the second Saturday of May for the US and Canada, and is intended to occur during peak migration. The idea is to give folks an opportunity to see these migrants.

09-That doesn’t work for everyone. So, for example, in some parts of Canada it may too early, and some parts of the United States, even, it’s a little bit too late—migratory birds have already passed over.

This time of year is excellent for bird watching in Texas. Tomorrow: celebrating birds at an event, or your own backyard.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration project supports our series…and funds diverse conservation projects in Texas.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Snowy Owl

 State Parks: Birding: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Birding is one of the fastest growing outdoor hobbies in the United States, and Texas and its parks are major birding hot spots. Our State Park Guide Bryan Frazier tells us more.

51 – You have hundreds of different bird species, and incredibly rich and diverse birding habitats. From the lower Rio Grande Valley, all the way up to the panhandle and east Texas. You have this vast array of colors of birds. Now is the time to get out and enjoy them. You have the great Texas Birding Festival [Classic]; the 17th year it’s going on. It’s tournaments, it’s sit ins. You can do birding checklists, you can help parks do birding counts. There’s lots of different way to get involved in a public way. Or you can just sit in your backyard by your bird feeder and watch the vas array of birds that will come there. But birding, identifying the species…take your binoculars, take your camera, take your kids. And show them just how enjoyable that can be to see those creatures that live here year round or just seasonally.

Thanks, Bryan.

Find additional information at texasstateparks.org.

That’s our show for today…with funding provided by Chevrolet, supporting outdoor recreation in Texas; because there’s life to be done.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Blue Mockingbird

 Birding: Vagrant Species, 2: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Vagrant birds are those who stray from far outside their expected range. But why do these birds end up so far from home?

04— There are various reasons why a bird might show up in an odd place.

Noreen Damude, wrote an article about vagrant bird sightings for the May issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine.

31— Weather has definitely a lot to do with it. Storms, hurricanes – things like that. Or, extended droughts in certain areas. There was one in Northern Mexico that drove many birds up across the border that we usually don’t see, like white throated robins and masked tyras, and things like that.

But Noreen says Mother Nature can’t take all the credit. Birding is one of the fasted growing hobbies in the US, and more eyes in the sky mean more surprises.

23— There are more birders. And the technology that’s been developed: computers and camcorders, and internet, and there are sites like eBird…. Let’s say you’re going to take a trip to Washington, DC, you can right away find out what’s been seen (besides politicians) in Washington that might be worth looking at.

You’ll find Noreen Damude’s article on vagrant bird sightings in the May issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

TPW Magazine May 2013 Issue

 Birding: Vagrant Species, 1: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Sometimes, for reasons we cannot explain, birds end up in Texas that don’t belong here. They’re called vagrants.

16— Basically a vagrant is defined as a bird that strays far outside its expected breeding, or wintering, or migrating range. In other words, it’s a bird that shows up unexpectedly because it’s not supposed to be here.

Noreen Damude, retired from Texas Parks and Wildlife, is a birder, and wrote an article about vagrant bird sightings, called Unexpected Guests, for the May issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine.

31— One of the ones that struck me is the Stygian Owl. It has a very large range in Central and South America, but it’s very hard to see even where it’s supposed to be. And it was seen in Benson Rio Grande State Park in 1996; this young boy and his parents were just going through the park, and he saw this little ‘fuffing’ in a mesquite tree. And he discovered it. He was a kid! That was very exciting.

We’ll have more with Noreen Damude on vagrant bird sightings in Texas tomorrow.

Support provided by Ram Trucks. Doing what’s right and good regardless of the degree of difficulty — takes guts. Those are the people who build Ram trucks. RAM.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.