Passport to Texas

Ground level birdbath in a backyard wildscape.

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Attracting birds to your backyard is as simple as adding water…to a birdbath.

05— They’ll use that birdbath year-round. They’ll use it for drinking. They’ll use it for bathing…

Cliff Shackelford is a non-game ornithologist with Texas Parks and Wildlife. Decorative ceramic birdbaths often make better art than they do watering stations for birds.

09—The simpler the better. What I found, is the basin needs to be a little rough and not smooth. It needs to have a gradual dip to it.

Concrete pedestal birdbaths can be too deep for birds, and the porous material encourages algae and sediment buildup. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology says a good birdbath mimics shallow puddles, which are nature’s birdbaths. They suggest digging a shallow hole in the ground, lining it with plastic to make it watertight, and then putting sand in the bottom so birds can get their footing. Place a few plants around the perimeter, and you have a bird spa.

The only thing that could make it better is dripping water, says Cliff Shackelford.

12— Bird drips are really good; you can hang a milk jug up with a little pin prick hole in it. Just the sound of the water dripping could be attractive to birds. And also, they may like to get under that drip a little bit.

Find more birding information on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

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

Birdbath in a wildscape. Photo courtesy of Sheryl Smith-Rodgers.

What's Better for Birds: Feeders or Birdbaths? Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Which would you rather have in your yard: a bird feeder or a birdbath?

05— A birdbath to me is way more important than a bird feeder.

Cliff Shackelford is a non-game ornithologist with Texas Parks and Wildlife. Why add a birdbath? Enjoyment: yours and the bird’s.

11—You’ll get much more enjoyment watching your backyard birds if you put up a birdbath than a bird feeder. They’ll use that birdbath year-round. They’ll use it for drinking. They’ll use it for bathing.

Sounds like easy, inexpensive entertainment that helps wildlife. Yet, Cliff says there’s more to a birdbath than just keeping it filled.

21— You want to make sure you keep it clean. Now, I don’t mean you have to get out there every day and scrub it. But, every couple of weeks, you want to probably hose it out and let the sun bake and dry it. You don’t want to use harsh chemicals. But, a birdbath is a welcome sight. And especially if you’re in areas where you don’t get a lot of rainfall—or in times of drought—a birdbath is going to be essential for our birds.

Not all birdbaths are created equal. I’ll have tips on the best kinds of birdbaths tomorrow.

For birding and wildscaping information, visit the Texas Parks and Wildlife Website.

That’s our show… Funding provided in part by Ram Trucks. Guts. Glory. Ram

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

TPW TV: Birding Basics Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Birdwatching continues to grow in popularity in Texas.

07—Texas is a good place to start birding, because there are more species of birds documented in the state of Texas than any other state in the country.

Texas Parks and Wildlife ornithologist, Cliff Shackelford appears on a segment of the Texas Parks and Wildlife PBS TV series next week along with avid teen birder, Jesse Huth. Together they offer tips on birding basics. Like how to use binoculars.

09— If you spot a bird, what you want to do is look right at the bird, and bring the binoculars right up to our eyes while you’re still looking at the bird. And the bird should be right in that field of view.

If you want to do more than just casually look at birds, you’ll need a field guide. And it may surprise you to know most birders prefer guides with paintings rather than photos of the birds. Cliff Shackelford.

08—Paintings are a lot better, because the artist does a lot of homework trying to get the one images to be the fitting image for the bird.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Nature Tourism director, Shelly Plante is also in the segment, reminding folks of the trail maps available to find birding hot spots.

07— People can buy these maps for the region in Texas they’re going to visit, or tht they live in, and they can go see hundreds of birding hot spots throughout the region.

Watch the birding basics segment on the Texas Parks and Wildlife PBS TV series next week. Check your local listings.

That’s our show…Funding provided in part by Ram Trucks. Guts. Glory. Ram

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

My indoor-only cat Gigi staring out the window at birds, wishing they were in her mouth.

Cats and Birds Don't Mix Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Pet cats are a pleasure until they leave a half-eaten bird on the welcome mat.

02—You can’t take the killer out of a cat.

Ornithologist and cat owner, Cliff Shackelford, says cats always follow their natural instincts.

05—Even a well-fed cat is going to still kill things, and it won’t even eat it; it’s very wasteful.

Cats take a big bite out of bird populations annually, which is why they’re better as indoor-only pets.

11—The estimate is in the millions of birds killed per year in the US by cats. And that’s feral cats and pet cats combined.

Cats are not bad; they’re simply out of place in the natural environment. And, bird-loving cat owners sometimes unwittingly enable their outdoor cat’s brutish behavior.

17—Sometimes we encourage them by putting the feeder a little too close to the shrubs, and the tall grass, where the cat can hide in to pounce on the bird at the feeder. So, you want to make sure you keep your feeders away where the cats can’t get to the birds, or the birds have a chance to flee.

Not convinced it’s best to keep kitty inside? Well, animal experts agree that indoor cats have better, longer lives.

13—If you love your cat keep it indoors; it will live longer, it won’t fight with other cats, it won’t get run over. So, I have cats and they stay inside. They like to look at birds; they just do it on the inside of the glass—looking out—like I do.

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

Dead standing trees, or snags, serve as habitat for wildlife. Image courtesy University of Missouri Extension.

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A snag is a standing, dead tree.

08— Most homeowners don’t like them because they can be a problem if it’s about to fall on the house, or the car, or the playscape.

Texas Parks and Wildlife ornithologist, Cliff Shackelford, recommends removing snags that pose risks to safety. However…

13— If that dead tree is not going to fall on anything—it’s full of life. It’s where the woodpeckers are feeding because there are beetles therein; it could be where the owl is going to perch that is going to eat the rodents on your property.

Cliff shares how he handled two dead trees in his yard.

17— We measured how far they were from falling on anything—like the house. So, one of them was 21 feet from the house; I made them cut it down to 19 feet. So, that way, if it fell over, it wasn’t going to be able to even jump that extra two feet and hit the house.

Cliff Shackelford says his reward for sparing the snag is great wildlife viewing and extra money in his pocket.

14— When we left that trunk of the three—that 19 feet—we saved money. Because, that’s the heaviest part of the tree to haul off. So, we saved several hundred dollars by just leaving that 19 foot of the trunk; and the wildlife love it.

Plus, he chipped the broken limbs, mixed them with horse manure, and once it aged, had garden mulch. Find more wildscaping tips on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

That’s our show…Funding provided in part by Ram Trucks. Guts. Glory. Ram

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