Why Birds Matter and the Houston Connection
Houston is on the Central Flyway.
Photo Credit: Texas Parks & Wildlife
- Birds improve our lives. Their beauty, song, and dance bring us joy and connect us with nature.
- Over 500 bird species migrate through Houston or make our city home.
- Birds are an essential part of our environment providing vital ecological services such as seed dispersal, pest management, and pollination.
- The study of birds advances science and serves as a barometer of environmental health.
- Nature-based tourism is a growing sector of the economy, especially on the Upper Texas Coast.
Houston is a Bird City
In 2020 Houston was certified as one of four Texas cities honored with the Bird City designation from Audubon Texas and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s inaugural certification program. This new, community-focused certification program has been created to help people protect birds and their habitats.
The growing popularity of planting native plants, restoring the native prairies, bird-friendly education programs, and Houston's Lights Out for Birds program were among the many efforts and programs that gained Houston this designation.
Bird of Houston
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Photo by Joanne Kamo
In 2019, Houston Audubon coordinated the Bird of Houston contest in an effort to increase awareness of the birds around us. Houstonians voted on their favorite local bird through a series of bracket rounds. Over 60 bird species were originally nominated, leading to the final round which pitted the Attwater’s Prairie-Chicken against the Yellow-crowned Night-Heron. In September of that year, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner alongside Houston Audubon’s Executive Director, Helen Drummond, proclaimed the Yellow-crowned Night-Heron as the official Bird of Houston.
