JUNE 2025

Hello, everyone! May has flown by, and with it came some incredible migration moments. While many birds have already passed through on their journey north, a few late migrants are still moving through our region. At the same time, many of our breeding birds have arrived and are actively nesting in the rich habitats of the Greater Houston and Gulf Coast area.

I was excited to spot a Gull-billed Tern recently and have been working on improving my tern identification skills—it’s a fun challenge with so many species around this time of year! The hot months are definitely here, but there’s still plenty to see and enjoy out in nature. Take time to get outside and soak in the season.

Happy birding!

- Jed Aplaca, President & CEO

FEATURED EVENTS

SANCTUARY SNAPSHOT

Houston Audubon owns and manages 17 bird sanctuaries totaling over 4,100 acres, many of which are open to the public! Our most frequented sanctuaries include the Edith L. Moore Nature Sanctuary in west Houston and our High Island and Bolivar Flats sanctuaries on the coast. 

Edith L. Moore Nature Sanctuary

By John LeaRussa, ELMNS Sanctuary Lead

Greetings from the Edith L. Moore Nature Sanctuary. As I write this, the sanctuary is enjoying some much-needed rain from an otherwise dry May. You can almost see the native plants soaking up this shower and smiling! Outside of this shower, May has been a hot and dry month, even by Houston standards, but our volunteers continue to not only persevere, but shine throughout.

We had a great turnout at our last community workday of the season on May 17th. We replaced a sorely deteriorated section of boardwalk between our two work sheds with a nice and sturdy new construction that will hopefully last for years and years! We also mulched approximately 400 linear feet of our trails and cleaned up the areas around the cabin.

Our sanctuary really shines when volunteers pull together with Houston Audubon staff to execute these types of projects. Not to mention, we really have fun! Speaking of fun, if you want to keep the good times rolling throughout the summer, please consider coming out on Trail Crew Tuesdays. We get together every Tuesday at 8 am and it is a great way to connect with nature and beautify our lovely sanctuary. No prior experience or special skills are required. That’s all for now, see you next month!

On the Coast - High Island and Bolivar Flats

By Wyatt Egelhoff, Sanctuary Manager

As temperatures heated up in May, migrant songbirds were replaced with more mosquitoes and deer flies in the coastal sanctuaries. This month’s activities on the coast include the monthly Bolivar Flats Beach Ramble on Saturday, June 7th from 10 am-noon. We will also be having our monthly Coastal Natives Nursery Workday on Thursday, June 12th from 9 am-noon.

Just because Spring Migration activities have concluded doesn’t mean the work stops at the coastal sanctuaries. We performed colonial waterbird surveys in late May. Houston Audubon staff survey up to ten islands in Galveston Bay, along with the Rookery at Smith Oaks Bird Sanctuary, carefully counting (when possible) and estimating the number of terns, gulls, skimmers, herons, egrets, cormorants, spoonbills, and pelicans nesting in these secure sites. Since its inception in 1973, the Texas Colonial Waterbird Survey has produced significant and reliable trend data for the waterbirds nesting in the Western Gulf. This survey has captured a number of trends, including the recovery of nesting Brown Pelicans on the Texas coast, and the decline in nesting Black Skimmers that Houston Audubon and its many regional partners are working to reverse through targeted management and stewardship activities. Because we have control over the areas these species use to breed, we can then implement management actions that directly influence their productivity. This is not the case for the majority of spring and fall migrants we support that pass through the coastal sanctuaries.

Despite the heat and biting insects, there is still much to do and see on the coast this time of year. Shorebird migration continues into the first half of June with many arctic-breeding species such as White-rumped and Semipalmated Sandpipers still straggling through our shores for the first few days of the month. Other individuals of species such as Sanderlings, Ruddy Turnstones, Western and Least Sandpipers are regular mid-summer residents - first and even second-year birds opt to over-summer at lower latitudes since they won’t be breeding until they’re two or three years old anyway. We also have many Wilson’s Plovers and Least Terns attempting to breed on our beaches. For those brave enough to check the woodlots on the coast, it can also be a time of great serendipity. Species such as Black-whiskered and Yellow-green Vireos have turned up with greater frequency on the Upper Texas Coast in recent summers. While June and July are our periods of lowest bird diversity, with some planning, it is still possible to see over 100 different species in a day’s worth of birding.

CONSERVATION CORNER

Do, Re, Mi, Fa, CHIRP! How birds learn to sing

By Schyler Brown, Bird-Friendly Communities Program Manager

One of the most fascinating and wonderful aspects of bird biology is that many birds sing beautiful songs! Often used to defend territory or attract a mate, birdsong is an essential part of how birds survive in the wild. In fact, the more successful a bird is at singing its song, the more likely it is to find a mate and breed. However, birds are not born great singers - they have to learn at an early age. In a peer reviewed scientific paper, William Thorpe demonstrated that chicks who were isolated from singing adults did not sing well compared to those who were exposed to a recording of the adult's song, showing that young birds must learn how to sing from the adults. Information like this is critical because too much noise pollution can reduce the ability of a bird to learn to sing, leading to lower survival rates. The best way for us to help is by reducing noise pollution, which takes community action such as planting lots of trees, driving quieter vehicles or riding a bike when possible.  

Thorpe, W. H. The learning of song patterns by birds, with especial reference to the song of the chaffinch Fringilla coelebs. Ibis 100, 535–570 (1958).

IN THE COMMUNITY

By Christine Wehrli, Community Outreach Programs Manager

On May 10, Houston Audubon, Madres del Parque, and Harris County Precinct 4 hosted World Migratory Bird Day at Burnett Bayland Park. We celebrated this year’s theme of “Shared Spaces: Creating Bird Friendly Cities and Communities” with fun and educational activities for the whole family. For kids, there were bird-themed games, crafts, and face painting. Some of the cultural highlights were a live mariachi band, Mexican folk dances and an Ethiopian coffee ceremony. Attendees were able to view our pollinator gardens and learn about the importance of native plants.

Many community partners helped to make this event a success! Thanks to Fit Houston, BakerRipley, CRECEN, Brave Little Company, Connect Community, MARLA, Herencia y Tradicion Folkloric Group, and Girl Scouts of San Jacinto. To learn more about World Migratory Bird Day, visit www.migratorybirdday.org

NEWS & BIRDING

Meet Marie Olavere, Houston Audubon's New Development Director

Protecting Endangered Species in a Fractured World

Featured Beak: Red-shouldered  Hawk

Four New Bird Surveys at Exploration Green, UH Clear Lake, Nassau Bay Wildlife Peninsula and Sweetwater Nature Preserve

WAYS TO HELP

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