Houston Audubon is pleased to announce the launch of its new conservation license plate which will raise money to protect birds and their habitat. The plate is sponsored by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) and can be put on Texas-registered vehicles, trailers and motorcycles.

The Beak of the Week on the Houston Audubon Facebook page featured the Chipping Sparrow. It was posted by Sarah Lefoley, Conservation Technician, on November 7, 2020. Click the link to see the profile in our Bird Gallery.

The Beak of the Week on the Houston Audubon Facebook page featured the Northern Pintail. It was posted by Aidan Healey, Conservation Technician, on October 31, 2020. Click the link to see the profile in our Bird Gallery.

Thanks everyone for participating in the October Senior Bus Trip! It was a fun day even if the birds were a bit slow and hard to find at times. The Vermillion Flycatcher certainly gave everyone a show at Anahuac and the flyover of the American Kestrels on the hawk watch tower was a treat. Below is the photo album I made and the bird list. I hope to see you on a future bus trip. Each trip is a different experience to a new location and we always make great memories.

Photo gallery.

The Beak of the Week on the Houston Audubon Facebook page featured the Swainson's Hawk. It was posted by Phoebe Honscheid, Conservation Technician, on October 16, 2020. Click the link to see the profile in our Bird Gallery.

The Beak of the Week on the Houston Audubon Facebook page featured the Red-breasted Nuthatch. It was posted by Sarah Lefoley, Conservation Technician, on October 10, 2020. Click the link to see the profile in our Bird Gallery.

More than anything, Dorthyle loved nature, a lifelong passion that began when her father took her on treks through the Piney Woods of East Texas as a small child. She had a keen interest in bird watching and a vast knowledge of plants and animals of Texas. That knowledge led to a part-time job at Chickadee Nature Store and to volunteering as an Audubon docent at Edith L. Moore Nature Sanctuary, a role she treasured for more than 20 years, which allowed her to share her love of wildlife with visiting children. Houston Audubon is named in the obituary as one of the organizations for memorial contributions.

The Beak of the Week on the Houston Audubon Facebook page featured the Rufous Hummingbird. It was posted by Aidan Healey, Conservation Technician, on October 3, 2020. Click the link to see the profile in our Bird Gallery.

Thanks to everyone who came out to support our Bird Week Field Trip to Smith Point on Saturday, September 26, 2020. It was a beautiful morning. Below is the checklist. Not everyone saw all of these birds but all of you saw most of them. It is always worth a trip back to Smith Point to keep searching for new species. Thanks for surviving and tolerating the mosquito infested wet walk to the woods. From the report, it looks like the afternoon was filled with Broad-winged Hawks but we also got to witness the kites and the frigatebirds.

The Beak of the Week on the Houston Audubon Facebook page featured the Eurasian Collared-Dove. It was posted by Phoebe Honscheid, Conservation Technician, on September 26, 2020. Click the link to see the profile in our Bird Gallery.

PALEican is a pale ale created by Bakfish Brewing Co. in 2019 for our inaugural Houston Bird Week.

The Members Field Trip on Saturday, September 19, 2020, went to Smith Point. It certainly was a spectacular day to be there. The kettles of kites and Broad-winged Hawks were amazing! See the photo album where Trey Morris and Mary Anne Weber took some great shots! I hope you can join us for more adventures in the future.

The Beak of the Week on the Houston Audubon Facebook page featured the Stilt Sandpiper. It was posted by Phoebe Honscheid, Conservation Technician, on September 18, 2020. Click the link to see the profile in our Bird Gallery.

The Houston Audubon Senior Bus Trips are back up and running! Our first trip took our group to Navasota.

The Beak of the Week on the Houston Audubon Facebook page featured the Wilson’s Warbler. It was posted by Phoebe Honscheid, Conservation Technician, on September 11, 2020. Click the link to see the profile in our Bird Gallery.

The Beak of the Week on the Houston Audubon Facebook page featured the Pomarine Jaeger. It was posted by Aidan Healey, Conservation Technician, on September 4, 2020. Click the link to see the profile in our Bird Gallery.

Here is a link to the September 2020 edition of our monthly E-News, which is now named The Owl Post. You can subscribe by filling in the form at the bottom of any page on our website.

Fall migration is in full swing, and the day after Hurricane Laura, I watched my first fall visitor—a solitary Ruby-throated Hummingbird—fluttering around the bottlebrush and Turk's cap in my backyard.  Suddenly, I became captivated by the beauty, strength, and resilience of this tiny, amazing bird and its determination to survive and thrive.  This hummingbird and millions of other migrating birds making heroic journeys every fall and spring are beacons of resilience, a quality so many call upon in times of need. 

The Beak of the Week on the Houston Audubon Facebook page featured the Snowy Plover. It was posted by Aidan Healey, Conservation Technician, on August 21, 2020. Click the link to see the profile in our Bird Gallery.

The Beak of the Week on the Houston Audubon Facebook page featured the White-faced Ibis. It was posted by Aidan Healey, Conservation Technician, on August 14, 2020. Click the link to see the profile in our Bird Gallery.

The Beak of the Week on the Houston Audubon Facebook page featured the Acadian Flycatcher. It was posted by Aidan Healey, Conservation Technician, on August 7, 2020. Click the link to see the profile in our Bird Gallery.

The Beak of the Week on the Houston Audubon Facebook page featured the House Sparrow. It was posted by Aidan Healey, Conservation Technician, on July 31, 2020. Click the link to see the profile in our Bird Gallery.

When it comes to living an altruistic life that can help make a difference for others, one of the most valuable things you can give your community is the gift of volunteering.

The Beak of the Week on the Houston Audubon Facebook page featured the Brown-headed Nuthatch. It was posted by Aidan Healey, Conservation Technician, on July 10, 2020. Click the link to see the profile in our Bird Gallery.

When mindful meditation becomes part of your daily routine, you’ll notice its benefits become a regular part of your life.

The Beak of the Week on the Houston Audubon Facebook page featured the White-winged Dove. It was posted by Aidan Healey, Conservation Technician, on July 3, 2020. Click the link to see the profile in our Bird Gallery.

The Beak of the Week on the Houston Audubon Facebook page featured the Fulvous Whistling-Duck. It was posted by Aidan Healey, Conservation Technician, on June 26, 2020. Click the link to see the profile in our Bird Gallery.

In March, I noticed a pair of Eastern Bluebirds investigating an old Downy Woodpecker cavity in a loblolly pine about 30 feet from our house. I was surprised that both the male and the female could enter the small hole with ease. I thought that perhaps the cavity might be too small for them to successfully nest. We humans often remove dead or dying trees and limbs that are nesting habitat for many species of woodpeckers. When we do so, we're also depriving nesting sites for bluebirds, chickadees, screech-owls, wood ducks and many others who appropriate abandoned woodpecker holes for their nests.

This past spring our family of Education Ambassadors grew. The birds assisting us in our educational programming are typically birds that are found injured in the wild. They have all gone through rehabilitation but are unable to be released for a variety of reasons.

After about two months of being closed to the public due to COVID concerns, the Edith L. Moore Nature Sanctuary (home of Houston Audubon's headquarters) has been open since May. In an effort to better gauge visitation levels and encourage social distancing, we've limited our hours to 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. In June and July, in order to accommodate programs, the sanctuary has a delayed opening at 12:30 p.m. The only entrance is at the Memorial Drive United Methodist Church parking lot. The restroom and water fountain are closed, so visitors should plan accordingly.

Each year we summarize a familiar spring migration, giving our best estimate of how many people made it to Houston Audubon's sanctuaries to discover and enjoy the miraculous migrations that wash over our region with waves of color and song.  

During the "stay home, stay safe" way of life, our neighborhood become the walking capital of Harris County.  We, along with many of our neighbors, were out walking 2 or 3 times a day.  I bet many of you had the same experience.  All this walking gave us time to really stop and smell the roses, or, in our case, look up and study the birds.  While doing so, we were delighted to make discoveries that during normal times we might have missed.  

The Beak of the Week on the Houston Audubon Facebook page featured the Red-headed Woodpecker. It was posted by Aidan Healey, Conservation Technician, on June 19, 2020. Click the link to see the profile in our Bird Gallery.

The Board of Directors election was held online this year due to the coronavirus pandemic which restricted public meeting. The election ran from May 7-14, 2020. The slate of candidates to Houston Audubon's Board of Directors was elected as proposed. Starting July 1, 2020, Greg Whittaker is the new President-Elect and Galveston Group Representative. Janeen Judah will be Secretary. Re-elected to the Board as Directors are Brad Moore and Loy Sneary. New Directors elected to the Board are Bill Mathews, Glenn Olsen, Letha Slagle and Pam Smolen.

We thank all our Board members for their invaluable service to Houston Audubon.

The Beak of the Week on the Houston Audubon Facebook page featured the Cave Swallow. It was posted by Aidan Healey, Conservation Technician, on June 12, 2020. Click the link to see the profile in our Bird Gallery.

We’ll be participating and following along with #BlackBirdersWeek, a virtual event created to support, encourage, and recognize Black birders and nature enthusiasts. As we strive to bring the benefits of birds to everyone and diversify our Houston Audubon family, we support innovative ideas that invite more participation and diversity in birding. We encourage you to join us, starting with today’s #PostABird challenge, on Twitter and Instagram. Read more about the event on Twitter: #BlackBirdersWeek and #BlackInNature.

The Beak of the Week on the Houston Audubon Facebook page featured the Green Heron. It was posted by Aidan Healey, Conservation Technician, on May 29, 2020. Click the link to see the profile in our Bird Gallery.

During our Texas Colonial Waterbird Survey of North Deer Island last week, we came across a pelican that had ingested a plastic bottle. Thankfully, Audubon Texas Warden, Dennis Jones, came to the rescue and was able to remove the bottle from this lucky young Pelican’s pouch.

The Beak of the Week on the Houston Audubon Facebook page featured the Bay-breasted Warbler. It was posted by Sarah Lefoley, Conservation Technician, on May 22, 2020. Click the link to see the profile in our Bird Gallery.

Caring for animals is an important part of living an altruistic lifestyle. Today we explore how you can live more altruistically with the animals in your day-to-day life.

The Beak of the Week on the Houston Audubon Facebook page featured the Magnificent Frigatebird. It was posted by Aidan Healey, Conservation Technician, on May 15, 2020. Click the link to see the profile in our Bird Gallery.

The Beak of the Week on the Houston Audubon Facebook page featured the Veery. It was posted by Sarah Lefoley, Conservation Technician, on May 8, 2020. Click the link to see the profile in our Bird Gallery.

The Beak of the Week on the Houston Audubon Facebook page featured the Golden-winged Warbler. It was posted by Aidan Healey, Conservation Technician, on May 2, 2020. Click the link to see the profile in our Bird Gallery.

The Beak of the Week on the Houston Audubon Facebook page featured the Cerulean Warbler. It was posted by Sarah Lefoley, Conservation Technician, on April 24, 2020. Click the link to see the profile in our Bird Gallery.

How do we summon strength to make it through our weeks of social distancing and stay-at-home orders? Here are a few of my suggestions for relieving stress or boredom and enjoying birds in your backyard. I think we often overlook and even discount the birds that we can see in our backyard and neighborhood. How well do we really know them?

As we navigate these challenging times, I am reminded of Robert Jordan's quote, "The oak fought the wind and was broken, the willow bent when it must and survived." We, as individuals, as an organization, and as a region have weathered many storms over the years, and we've learned to be resilient, flexible, and adaptable. I believe today is no different. Amidst this global pandemic, we should be encouraged by looking to the subject of our mission -– birds and nature.

You may have heard the great news – Houston is one of the first four cities to receive the Bird City Texas designation! But what does this mean for the city, for Houstonians, and for the wildlife that also calls Houston home? This designation demonstrates that our community cares about birds, habitat, and conservation. To receive the Bird City designation applicants were required to describe what actions they have taken to support birds and wildlife in their cities.

The Beak of the Week on the Houston Audubon Facebook page featured the Yellow-billed Cuckoo. It was posted by Aidan Healey, Conservation Technician, on April 18, 2020. Click the link to see the profile in our Bird Gallery.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department newsletter for April 2020 has several bird features. Including "5 Tips for Becoming a Backyard Birder" and "Bird City Texas." "Relax With a Wildlife Live Stream" links to our Bolivar Flats bird camera. There is also a video about "Watch for Butterflies in Your Backyard."

The Beak of the Week on the Houston Audubon Facebook page featured the American Redstart. It was posted by Sarah Lefoley, Conservation Technician, on April 10, 2020. Click the link to see the profile in our Bird Gallery.