Archive for the ‘Birds’ Category

Apr
23

Our 24 Hour Adventure: The Great Texas Birding Classic

Posted by in Birds

At 11:45 in the evening Saturday night, five Houston Zoo bird keepers and one interactive marketing guru met in the zoo’s employee parking lot and began packing a minivan full of food, pillows, cameras, binoculars, bug spray and bird identification guides. While playing car storage Tetris, everyone simultaneously snapped their heads up to look into the sky, as the comical calls of wild Black-bellied Whistling Ducks flying into our Duck Lake exhibit rang out.  I checked my phone; it was three minutes after midnight. Our start time had silently crept by as we worried over how many bottles of water we could fit in the cooler.

“Black-bellied’s at twelve oh three! It counts!”

With that, team Jiminy Frigates started a whirlwind 24 hour Great Texas Birding Classic competition-a quest to identify by sight or sound as many different bird species as possible from midnight to midnight. Our team had never been bird watching as a group before, and no members had ever participated in competitive birding.  After studying the totals of teams from previous years, we set our goals at a respectable number, 150 species. Twenty four hours and 387 miles of driving later, the final total was 178 species. How’s that for coming out of the gate strong?

We began our birding odyssey on Houston Zoo grounds and visited 13 different sites, drove within throwing distance of Louisiana, rode a ferry, and found a new bird in a Beaumont Church’s Chicken. We saw snakes, wildflowers, alligators, frogs, dolphins, lizards, one very sleepy raccoon, not to mention a few birds.

On average, we saw 8 new species of bird every hour, or every 2 miles traveled. Armed with iPhones, we tweeted, uploaded photos, posted blogs, updated Facebook statuses, and may have even involved Tumblr at some point. We were all so happy to see Houston Zoo supporters following along on our adventure, offering advice and encouragement! When you skip a night of sleep, have soggy muddy feet, a mosquito bite on your right eyelid, and only fast food in your stomach, that kind of support really helps.

Many hours of sleep and one scalding shower later, I realize that bird watching isn’t just about staring at some eagles or sparrows through binoculars; it’s about being outdoors and everything else that entails. As soon as you begin to look around you for birds, you notice everything else you’ve been missing; the armadillo by the pond, the beautiful oak tree in your yard, the butterflies flitting around and those flowers everyone says you’re supposed to stop and smell.

Bird watching is something you can do alone, with children, your mother, with a group of friends, or on a romantic date. No matter what, it’s always a fun adventure, and you’ll see something that will amaze you.  As another Earth Day comes and goes, we encourage you to get out and look for birds. You’ll find everything else on the way.

  •  Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
  •  Fulvous Whistling-Duck
  •  Wood Duck
  •  Mottled Duck
  •  Blue-winged Teal
  •  Northern Shoveler
  •  Northern Pintail
  •  Green-winged Teal
  •  Canvasback
  •  Redhead
  •  Pied-billed Grebe
  •  Neotropic Cormorant
  •  Double-crested Cormorant
  •  American White Pelican
  •  Brown Pelican
  •  American Bittern
  •  Great Blue Heron
  •  Great Egret
  •  Snowy Egret
  •  Little Blue Heron
  •  Tricolored Heron
  •  Reddish Egret
  •  Cattle Egret
  •  Green Heron
  •  Black-crowned Night-Heron
  •  Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
  •  White Ibis
  •  Glossy Ibis
  •  White-faced Ibis
  •  Roseate Spoonbill
  •  Black Vulture
  •  Turkey Vulture
  •  Osprey
  • Mississippi Kite
  • Notherthern Harrier
  •  Swainson’s Hawk
  •  Red-tailed Hawk
  •  Clapper Rail
  •  Purple Gallinule
  •  Common Gallinule
  •  American Coot
  •  Black-bellied Plover
  •  American Golden-Plover
  •  Snowy Plover
  •  Wilson’s Plover
  •  Semipalmated Plover
  •  Killdeer
  •  American Oystercatcher
  •  Black-necked Stilt
  •  American Avocet
  •  Solitary Sandpiper
  •  Greater Yellowlegs
  •  Willet
  •  Lesser Yellowlegs
  •  Whimbrel
  •  Long-billed Curlew
  •  Marbled Godwit
  •  Ruddy Turnstone
  •  Sanderling
  •  Western Sandpiper
  •  Baird’s Sandpiper
  •  Dunlin
  •  Stilt Sandpiper
  •  Ruff
  •  Short-billed Dowitcher
  •  Long-billed Dowitcher
  •  Wilson’s Phalarope
  •  Bonaparte’s Gull
  •  Laughing Gull
  •  Ring-billed Gull
  •  Herring Gull
  •  Least Tern
  •  Gull-billed Tern
  •  Caspian Tern
  •  Black Tern
  •  Common Tern
  •  Forster’s Tern
  •  Royal Tern
  •  Sandwich Tern
  •  Black Skimmer
  •  Rock Pigeon
  •  Eurasian Collared-Dove
  •  White-winged Dove
  •  Mourning Dove
  •  Inca Dove
  •  Yellow-billed Cuckoo
  •  Black-billed Cuckoo
  •  Great Horned Owl
  •  Barred Owl
  •  Common Nighthawk
  •  Chimney Swift
  •  Ruby-throated Hummingbird
  •  Belted Kingfisher
  •  Red-headed Woodpecker
  •  Golden-fronted Woodpecker
  •  Red-bellied Woodpecker
  •  Downy Woodpecker
  •  Northern Flicker
  •  Peregrine Falcon
  •  Monk Parakeet
  •  Eastern Wood-Pewee
  •  Acadian Flycatcher
  •  Eastern Phoebe
  •  Eastern Kingbird
  •  Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
  •  Loggerhead Shrike
  •  White-eyed Vireo
  •  Blue-headed Vireo
  •  Warbling Vireo
  •  Red-eyed Vireo
  •  Blue Jay
  •  American Crow
  •  Fish Crow
  •  Northern Rough-winged Swallow
  •  Purple Martin
  •  Tree Swallow
  •  Barn Swallow
  •  Cliff Swallow
  •  Carolina Chickadee
  •  Tufted Titmouse
  •  Red-breasted Nuthatch
  •  Sedge Wren
  •  Marsh Wren
  •  Carolina Wren
  •  Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
  •  Ruby-crowned Kinglet
  •  Swainson’s Thrush
  •  Wood Thrush
  •  American Robin
  •  Gray Catbird
  •  Northern Mockingbird
  •  Brown Thrasher
  •  European Starling
  •  Worm-eating Warbler
  •  Louisiana Waterthrush
  •  Northern Waterthrush
  •  Black-and-white Warbler
  •  Prothonotary Warbler
  •  Swainson’s Warbler
  •  Tennessee Warbler
  •  Orange-crowned Warbler
  •  Kentucky Warbler
  •  Common Yellowthroat
  •  Hooded Warbler
  •  American Redstart
  •  Northern Parula
  •  Blackburnian Warbler
  •  Yellow Warbler
  •  Blackpoll Warbler
  •  Palm Warbler
  •  Yellow-rumped Warbler
  •  Yellow-throated Warbler
  •  Black-throated Green Warbler
  •  Wilson’s Warbler
  •  Savannah Sparrow
  •  Seaside Sparrow
  •  Swamp Sparrow
  •  White-throated Sparrow
  •  White-crowned Sparrow
  •  Summer Tanager
  •  Scarlet Tanager
  •  Western Tanager
  • Northern Cardinal
  •  Rose-breasted Grosbeak
  •  Indigo Bunting
  •  Painted Bunting
  •  Red-winged Blackbird
  •  Eastern Meadowlark
  •  Brewer’s Blackbird
  •  Common Grackle
  •  Boat-tailed Grackle
  •  Great-tailed Grackle
  •  Brown-headed Cowbird
  •  Orchard Oriole
  •  Baltimore Oriole
  •  American Goldfinch
  •  House Sparrow

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Apr
21

Shorebirds are a ‘Shore’ Thing!

Posted by in Birds

Written by April Zimpel, Houston Zoo Bird Keeper and Member of the Jiminy Frigates.

Right now, during the Great Texas Birding Classic, we are  searching for shorebirds at Bolivard Flats, Rollover Pass and Cameron County Beach! This is our last chance to increase our count numbers significantly!

Keep watching the Houston Zoo blogs, Twitter feed and Facebook to see how the Jiminy Frigates is doing in their quest to find as many bird species as possible in 24 hours for the Great Texas Birding Classic! Join in on the fun and cheer for us online!

American Avocets in breeding plumage.

Because Houstonians live so close to the shore, we sometimes take for granted the fact that we are able to see a wonderful variety of shorebirds year-round. The beaches of Galveston are teaming with avocets, plovers, terns, sandpipers and oystercatchers, while the marshy areas of the coast are filled with herons, ibis and even spoonbills. This area is also an important stopover for many species of shorebirds that migrate from South America hundreds of miles to breeding grounds that can reach up to Alaska.

Willet

Most shorebirds are characterized by long legs, toes and bills, built for wading into water or marsh to probe for food. They usually eat a variety of insects, mollusks and other invertebrates and most shorebirds actually time when they lay their eggs so the chicks hatching coincides with the hatching of insect species that the chick will need to grow up healthy! Shorebirds also tend to be more neutral, earth-tone colors to help them blend into their surrounding while sitting on their nest.

 

Unfortunately, because of their dependence on coastal estuaries and marshland, many species of shorebird are declining. Although habitat loss is the most serious issue these birds face today, they are also affected by oil spills and other forms of pollution. As beach-goers, we can all do our part to make sure these birds don’t have further pollutants in their environment by making sure to dispose of trash properly while visiting the beach. Shorebirds also nest on the ground, so unless it’s necessary, avoid driving on the beach to prevent disturbing nesting birds and crushing eggs. If you’re interesting in learning more about shorebirds please visit the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Shorebird Fact Sheet .

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Apr
21

What’s Up with Woodpeckers?

Posted by in Birds

We’re currently searching for woodpeckers at The Great Texas Birding Classic…let’s hope we rack up some serious woodpecker sightings…we’re in the Big Thicket right now, which (we hope) is the perfect spot..

Keep watching the Houston Zoo blogs, Twitter feed and Facebook to see how team Jiminy Frigates is doing in their quest to find as many bird species as possible in 24 hours for the Great Texas Birding Classic! Join in on the fun and cheer for us online, or head to High Island later today today to give your support in person!

Well, actually, there’s a lot up with woodpeckers…check out these cool facts!

There are 180 species of woodpeckers in the world found everywhere but Australia, Madagascar, and New Zealand. In Texas there are thirteen different species: nine have been found in Houston.

Most of the woodpeckers found in our area have black and white feathers and some amount of red on their heads. They also have very interesting feet. Most birds have three toes up front and one toe in the back of the foot, but woodpeckers have zygodactyl feet. This means two toes up front and two toes in the back for gripping onto the bark of trees.

But the coolest thing about woodpeckers has to be their heads. They have long chisel-like beaks for drumming on, building nest holes and extracting food from trees. A woodpecker’s tongue is up to 4 inches long depending on the species, and it wraps around their entire skull.

Many woodpeckers have barbed tongues that help them extract bugs from trees and holes. A woodpecker can tap 20 times per second (8,000-12,000 times per day!) without getting a headache. They have reinforced skulls made to spread the impact force, and their brains are tightly cushioned and protected.

Not only do woodpeckers look cool, but they are also very beneficial to our environment. They eat thousands of wood-boring insects and other garden pests like crickets, ants, grasshoppers, flies, spiders, wasps, beetles, and grubs. A single flicker (a type of woodpecker) can eat thousands of carpenter ants in one day!

Having mature deciduous and coniferous trees can attract woodpeckers to your yard to take care of some of those pests. You can also attract them by hanging feeders that hold homemade or store bought suet. You can also leave dead trees, snags and stumps for foraging.  Or when planning bird-friendly landscaping, choose trees for birds that will produce the nuts and berries that are important food sources for woodpeckers.

So to summarize, woodpeckers are awesome! Follow the Houston Zoo twitter feed all day on Sunday for the Great Texas Birding Classic and see how many Woodpeckers we spot.

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Apr
21

Stalking Rockstars and Other Celebrities: The Jiminy Frigates Search for Warblers

Posted by in Birds

Dawn is always a great time to find birds, and The Great Texas Birding Classic‘s the Jiminy Frigates are currently in Sabine Woods, hoping to find at least 20 warbler species!

Keep watching the Houston Zoo blogs, Twitter feed and Facebook to see how the Jiminy Frigates are doing in their quest to find as many bird species as possible in 24 hours for the Great Texas Birding Classic! Join in on the fun and cheer for us online, or head to High Island later today today to give your support in person!

Several weeks ago, I stopped to fill up my car’s tank at a gas station on Westheimer after work.  At other pumps, several Houstonians were doing the same; it was just another day and another tank of gas, until a man wearing a tuxedo and top hat climbed out of his car.  Like the rest of us, he was running a typical errand, but he didn’t stare into the distance with a blank look on his face and a sense of a mundane routine.  This guy had places to go, obviously. His movements were quick, his purpose evident. He darted in and out of that gas station, and while he filled up his tank as quickly as possible, everyone stared.Where was this man going in his fancy tux? What would he be doing when he got there? Seriously, who wears a top hat anymore?

Cerulean Warbler

While the man in the tux and hat was an interesting sight, I’ve never found people to be as interesting as animals, and currently, the Houston area is playing host to a huge gala of birds in their most extravagant dress. Top hats and tails have nothing on these guys.

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Warblers are tiny birds, weighing in at a negligible 10 grams or less (about as heavy as 4 pennies), but don’t underestimate these songbirds for one second! Not only do these birds provide you with coffee  and kill and eat pesky mosquitoes with a proficiency that would put even the most ruthless bug-zapper to shame,  but they are breathtakingly gorgeous.

 

Houston is just a short drive to world famous birding sites for Spring migration, such as High Island on Bolivar Peninsula and Sabine Woods. Both serve as a ‘gas station’ stop-over for exhausted birds flying from as far away as South America to their northern breeding grounds.  Over 35 species of warblers can be seen in this area during the spring madness, attracting thousands of bird paparazzi–professional photographers, amateurs and bird enthusiasts all looking for the exhilaration of  spotting these winged rockstars  in their most impressive plumage during their layover in Texas. Often, the number of migrating birds finding water and food in these areas can be so high, that the trees and ground seem covered with brightly covered jewels.

Bay-breasted Warbler

 

 

All photos captured by Cody Conway on the Upper Texas Coast and used with permission.

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Apr
21

Who is Hunting Hoooooo?

Posted by in Birds

Written by Bird Department Senior Keeper Jeremy Whitted, member of the Jiminy Frigates.

The Jiminy Frigates are currently at the Houston Zoo, searching for resident Eastern Screech Owls and Great Horned Owls for the The Great Texas Birding Classic!

Keep watching the Houston Zoo blogs, Twitter feed and Facebook to see how team Jiminy Frigates is doing in their quest to find as many bird species as possible in 24 hours for the Great Texas Birding Classic! Join in on the fun and cheer for us online, or head to High Island later today today to give your support in person!

The Houston area boasts seven species of owl.  We’d be willing to bet you’ve walked by quite a few and never even knew it. They saw you, though.

Burrowing owls, spying on anyone and everyone.

Owls are naturally equipped with military-grade night vision goggles allowing them to see in almost total darkness. Contrary to popular belief, they can see quite well during the daylight too.  Owls have highly developed binocular vision, but cannot move their eyes within their sockets. No worries though! They can also turn their head 270 degrees, so owls are basically a wicked combination of Predator and Linda Blair.

With lop-sided ears, owls can focus auditory signals from prey to triangulate the presence of a mouse without even seeing it. Imagine hitting a bulls eye in the dark by only hearing the dart board rustle against the wall. To be fair, owls have an advantage, the feather structure of their faces act like a satellite dish, funneling sounds straight into the ears.

If you’ve ever heard a plane fly over, you know how loud flight can be.  Pound for pound, many birds are as loud as an airplane when they fly.  Yet owls have much to teach the most advanced flight engineers.  For years, scientists have been attempting to emulate the silent flight of owls. The birds’ primary flight feathers have frayed  edges.  Mathematicians have modeled air flow over these specialized feathers and discovered that these frayed edges disrupt air pressure over the wing, creating less noise than  normal feathers. This makes the owl a silent predator.  Try as they might, modern science has yet to successfully copy this model in military helicopters. In other words, it’s not easy to out-awesome nature.

The majestic Great Horned Owl

 

 

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Apr
15

It’s about to Get Wild: The Great Texas Birding Classic

Posted by in Birds

For those of you that are already birders, you know what’s coming: ’tis the season to see unique, remarkable, and incredible birds as they migrate through the Texas Gulf Coast! If you’re not yet a birder, you can be…learn all about it – all you need is a field guide to get started!

During this exciting time of year, Texas Parks and Wildlife puts together a birdwatching tournament called the Great Texas Birding Classic from April 15 to May 15. Are we getting involved? You know it.

Bird keepers from the Houston Zoo (team Jiminy Frigates) are getting together for 24 hours starting at midnight on Sunday, April 21 for a birding marathon: the goal is to identify as many birds as possible in the wild in 24 hours. And that means we can’t cheat and just go to the Zoo and name all our birds! I’ll follow along and bring you updates as they happen, from crazy mishaps to amazing birds to gorgeous scenery.

The Texas Birding Classic isn’t just 24 hours, though…there are lots of different
categories depending on your interest, age, ability, and time constraints. You can be beginner or advanced, a team of one or 5, and you can participate in a tournament for a morning, 24 hours or six consecutive days. You can even do the “Big Sit!” This is where have to identify birds in 24 hours, with all team members sitting or standing within a stationary 17-foot diameter circle!

So what’s our plan? If we told you we’d have to…well, you know. But we can give you some clues on where we’re going, because you might be interested in checking them out sometime. We’ll be searching for owls at the Big Thicket, enjoying the views and birds along the coast, and heading to famous High Island to see what we can see.

It’s going to be a fun adventure, and we hope you’ll join us on the blog for the big day. And while registration’s almost over, it may not be too late for you to jump in and have your own team!

Photos by Megan Neal, Houston Zoo Bird Keeper and Member of Team Jiminy Frigates

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Apr
09

The Great Flamingo Adventure

Posted by in Animal News & Updates,Birds

It was 6:45 a.m. on a chilly Friday morning in April. Standing around by the vet clinic in a spacious, grassy yard were 42 flamingos, and they knew something was up. Probably because there were 20 zookeepers looking suspiciously in their direction. There was a good reason, though: it was time to move them into their sparkling, newly-renovated habitat – and moving that many large birds with long necks and legs is no small feat!

As the flamingos curiously peered over at the zookeepers filing into their yard with arms spread wide to direct the flamingos where they needed to go, the group of birds moved in tandem, almost like a cascading wave. As the keepers got closer, one by one they set their sights on a single flamingo, and each bird was carefully swept up into the arms of a skilled handler.

The hardest part was next, though. How do you get a flamingo from one end of the Zoo to the other, as quickly as possible, to make sure it doesn’t get stressed? You use a golf cart. Luckily, a fleet of solar-powered carts was at the disposal of the bird department that morning, and each keeper, with a flamingo in tow, piled into one of the carts. We were ready to roll.

As we cruised through the back of the Zoo, through a big wooden gate, and past the hoofed animals, we were met with the confused looks and excited waves of several staff members getting the Zoo ready to open – it’s not often you see a cart full of flamingos fly by on a Friday morning! We rounded the corner and finally made it to drop the birds off in their lush new surroundings.

As the keepers entered the exhibit, they took great care to set the flamingos down slowly and gently so they could unfold their spindly, long legs and get proper footing before dancing straight toward their new pool. Several golf cart trips later, all 42 birds were safe and comfortable in their new surroundings, swimming in the “deep end” of their pool and exploring the new nesting island.

What’s next for the flamingos? We’re hoping for some chicks this summer, so stay tuned.

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Apr
08

Get Started Birding on the Texas Gulf Coast

Posted by in Birds

Enjoy nature, but looking for something fun to do to get you out in it a bit more? Interested in exploring places around your hometown that you never knew existed? Up for an adventure? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, birding might just be the thing you’re looking for to jazz up your weekends and create some new memories.

So what on earth is birding? Also known as birdwatching, birding means observing wild birds in their natural habitats – by sight and by sound. To start, walk outside your home and just look around. You may see scavenging grackles, head-bobbing pigeons, bright red cardinals, or maybe a mockingbird or two.  If you’ve done this, seen at least one bird, and identified it, congratulations! You’re on your way to being a birder.

Why birding? Here are just a few good reasons:

  1. It’s cheap. If you’ve ever needed to find an inexpensive activity for the whole family, this is it. You don’t have to spend any money, or you can spend just $20 and get a great field guide, or spend a bit more on a state or national park entry fee and make some incredible memories for just a few bucks.
  2. It’s a great family activity. Kids, parents, and grandparents can work together to spot and identify birds, and it teaches some great life lessons like patience, too!
  3. It’s a community. Birders help each other – it’s like one big giant family. As you start birding, you’ll run into folks that will tell you what they saw that was really amazing and where you can see it too – what’s better than that?

You may think birding requires expensive equipment like fancy binoculars, but there’s really just one thing you need to get started: a field guide listing the different types of birds you might see. That way, you can spot a bird and use the book to identify what you see. Here are some of our favorites:

Another thing that’s really helpful so you know where to see birds is a map of the areas where you can see the most birds. Texas Parks and Wildlife has a great set of maps that will help you figure out the best spot to go.

The mobile phone has been the next best thing that’s happened to birding since binoculars…there are tons of great resources that you can find in the way of apps and websites to enhance your birding experience. Some of the best include:

  • Field Guide Apps: All of the guides we listed above have apps (the Peterson’s one isn’t just for Texas, though…it is more general), so you can identify birds, listen to bird calls, update your checklist, and do lots of other cool stuff with the flick of a finger. Other great ones include Audubon and iBird Pro. (FYI – these are expensive…it’s like buying a book)
  • E-Bird: An incredible online resource from Cornell where you can record your sightings and share them with an entire online community that’s working together to find and ID birds all over the world. (free!)

Luckily, if you live in or around Houston, or anywhere on the Texas Gulf Coast for that matter, you’re right smack in the middle of one of the best places for birding in the entire world. The reason for that is in the winter, when it gets cold in the northern US and Canada, birds migrate south to go where it’s warm. Many of them cruise right through the Texas Gulf Coast and then head over to Mexico, Central America, or South America. And right now, it’s prime time for seeing these birds pass through. Mid-April to mid-May is quite possibly the best time of the year!

Some specific places to go and visit to see incredible birds include High Island, a famous part of Bolivar Peninsula for birding that even has a Tropical Birding Information Center; the Big Thicket Natural Preserve, where you can even get a special checklist of birds from the visitor center, and Anhuac National Wildlife Refuge, where you’ll see birds, and probably even some alligators!

When to go? The best time to see the most birds is in the early morning, so get ready to rise and shine before the sun rises (don’t forget to set the coffee pot the night before!). If you’re more of a night owl, never fear – at night you can see a whole slew of interesting birds…like owls! And if you’d rather be a beach bum during the day, you can saddle up to a sand dune and enjoy a whole host of shore birds.

And just remember – where birds are, probably so are the mosquitoes we’re so famous for. Don’t forget your mosquito repellent, and sunscreen is probably a good idea too.

Ready to take the next step? Get yourself a field guide and get out there. Happy birding!

Photos by Megan Neal, Houston Zoo Birds Keeper

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