Passport to Texas

This is Passport to Texas

Each year the Great Texas Birding Classic donates habitat conservation money to projects on the Texas coast.

14—To date we’ve donated well over 700-thousand dollars to on the ground habitat conservation projects. That’s acquisition projects, restoration projects, and enhancement projects. The Texas coast is a better place for birders as a result of the birding classic.

I’d wager it’s a better place for birds, too. Shelly Plante oversees nature tourism for Texas Parks and Wildlife, and coordinates this event with the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory. Teams of birders compete to identify the
most birds during various tournaments.

25—There is a tournament for blind or visually impaired birders called the Out of Sight Song Birder Tournament—we’d love to have more teams for this. These are people who are going to bird by ear. We have a new tournament this year—it’s going to have a trial run—and it is called a human powered tournament.
And this is birding only by foot, canoe or kayak, bicycle—anything human powered. The minute you step into a motorized vehicle, your count it done.

There’s also a tournament called The Big Sit that’s perfect for beginning birders.

08—This is just kind of a tailgate party for birders. It is birding from a single location, a 17-foot diameter circle—for 24 hours.

The event is April 9 through 17, and deadline to register is March 7. Find detailed registration information
www.birdingclassic.org.

We receive support from the Wildlife Restoration program…providing funding for habitat restoration in
Texas.

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

 2011 Birding Classic, 2: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

You can help improve bird habitat in Texas by organizing a team to compete in the Great Texas Birding Classic.

06—Winning teams pick what habitat conservation projects receive funding from the birding classic grants.

Shelly Plante oversees nature tourism for Texas Parks and Wildlife, and coordinates the event in tandem with
the Gulf Coat Bird Observatory.

10—The birding classic is a great competition for seeing as many species of birds as you can during a one day or five day tournament with your friends and family on the Texas coast.

Birders of all ages, abilities, and locations participate in this yearly spring event.

11—We had a team one year called the transatlantic vagrants, and they were from Spain, Ireland, Canada and England. So, you know, we’ve had kind of a mixed bag. We’ve had people from all over the world as well as people from all over the nation.

If you think this is something you’d like to do, you need to shake a tail feather, because the deadline is near.

14—You need to start getting your team together because registration deadline is March 7, and the event, itself, takes place April 9-17. It’s best to go to our website at www.birdingclassic.org to get more information.

Hear about a couple of special tournaments at the birding classic tomorrow.

That’s our show… with support from the Wildlife Restoration program…providing funding for habitat restoration in Texas.

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

 2011 Birding Classic, 1: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

The Christmas Bird count wrapped up this week and biologist, Marsha May, says volunteer counters add to scientists’ understanding of wintering species.

13—Well, this is a great way to look at the bird populations in the winter time—the wintering species. And we’re able to look at changes through time; this count’s been going on since 1900, so we’re looking at lot of good data there.

Don’t fret if you missed your chance to count wintering bird during this time around, Marsha says more opportunities are on the way.

33—There are other counts that look at spring birds, and then also at breeding birds in the summer. The North American Breeding Bird survey through USGS is another way of looking at breeding birds in the summertime. Then, local Audubon societies hold bird-a-thons in the spring, and that’s looking at all your migratory spring birds. So, there’s lots of things to do with birding, and we do have good birding information on our website. As well as information on the Birding Classic. So, if you really want to get competitive, I’d recommend you get out there and try the Great Texas Birding Classic.

Find videos about birding on the Texas Parks and Wildlife YouTube channel.

That’s our show for today… with support from the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program…supporting conservation in Texas.

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

 Birding/Wildlife: Seasonal Bird Counts: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

The Christmas Bird count ends today. No need to get your feathers ruffled—there’s always next year.

The count is a project of the National Audubon Society where for three weeks around the Christmas holiday, volunteers count birds during a 24-hour period in a 15-mile diameter circle.

05—But there aren’t any on December 25th—you can’t compete with family time and ripping open presents.

Volunteers submit their observations to the lead person, called a compiler.

05—That compiler then crunches all the numbers and turns in—nationally—a count for the whole circle.

The count also has opportunities for folks who for whatever reason cannot get to a circle. They’re called feeder watchers.

23—That’s someone that just merely watches out their back window and looks at the birds coming to the feeder and just counting those things. It’s a really good niche for someone that’s not able to get out if it’s too cold, or you’re just not physically able to get out, or maybe you have a newborn at the house, These are people that might have their eyes open watching the feeder and can contribute.

There are additional feeder watch programs that go on during other times of the year. Find them at passporttotexas.org.

The Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program… supports our series as well as conservation programs in Texas.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Video on Feeder Watch Program

 Birding/Wildlife: Feeder Watcher: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

More than a hundred years ago people participated in a time-honored Christmas tradition.

06—People would go out and do what was called a side hunt, and the winning group would come back with the biggest pile of dead critters.

How festive. The majority of critters in those piles were birds. Cliff Shackelford, a non-game ornithologist with Parks and Wildlife, says conservationists had a better idea.

05—Early conservationists thought that we ought to count birds and not try to collect birds.

Today we have the nationwide Christmas Bird Count. This season—between December 14 and January 5—groups of volunteers, armed with a bird list, head into the field and count birds over a 24-hour period.

15—What people do is they get into teams, and they have a defined 15 mile radius circle that they’re counting in, and that circle never moves. The hope is that you would count that circle for decades and decades and over time you would see trends.

Different groups pick different days within that three week period to count birds. Researchers then use the census information to assess the health of bird populations, and to guide conservation action.

It may be a little late to get involved this year, but there’s always next year.

05—They might need a full year’s heads up to chew on it and figure out, hey, I want to do this next year.

Go to Audubon.org for more information. The Sport fish and Wildlife Restoration Program supports our show. For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

 Birding: Christmas Bird Count: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download