National Audubon Society

Bird's-eye View : Wings of Collaboration - Celebrating Conservation Partnerships

Dear Friends,

Welcome to the Audubon Texas 2024 summer newsletter. This edition celebrates Audubon’s work in Texas that is made possible through collaboration. As we shared in April, Audubon is aligning under the Flight Plan to "bend the bird curve" — working to halt, and ultimately reverse, the decline of birds across the Americas. This important work cannot be accomplished by any single organization alone and requires partnerships with numerous institutions like federal and state agencies, communities and local governments, universities, and other nonprofit organizations—including local Audubon Chapters—just to name a few.

Partnerships are immensely important as they open doors to innovative ideas and new opportunities for conservation and community impact by contributing expertise and essential resources, extending influence, and helping establish new connections with communities and partners that may not have previously had the opportunity or reason to engage in bird conservation. Audubon centers, sanctuaries, local chapters, and initiatives — like Bird City Texas, Lights Out Texas, coastal restoration and stewardship, and Audubon Conservation Ranching — will only be as successful as the partnerships they rely on.

Audubon has also developed Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging conservation principles to guide this important work. These principles promote consistency across programs, from policymaking and on-the-ground conservation efforts to Centers and community engagement through Chapters. Most importantly, these principles ensure that we engage as a humble and accountable partner that prioritizes the well-being of the communities most affected by the pressing conservation and climate challenges we face.

With approximately three billion breeding birds lost since 1970, our urgent work to bend the bird curve in tandem with our partners is essential. We are delighted to share some inspiring collaboration stories below, and we extend our heartfelt thanks to all our colleagues for their trust, unwavering support, and dedicated efforts.

Warmest regards,

Lisa Gonzalez, Director
Audubon Texas Vice President & Executive Director

Pyrrhuloxia - Joseph Messina/Audubon Photography Awards

View from Another Perch

Reflecting on the Success of the 28th Annual Great Texas Birding Classic
by Shelly Plante, Nature Tourism Manager, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department-HQ

The 28th Annual Great Texas Birding Classic was a resounding success! From April 15 to May 15, Texas saw a record number of Birding Classic teams participating, with 1,250 birders on 212 teams out birding across the state. The official team standings are now posted on the Birding Classic website for those eager to see the results and team totals.

Every year, I take a moment post-Birding Classic to reflect on what makes this event continue to thrive nearly three decades later. The answer is really quite simple: partnerships, passion, and collaboration. READ MORE

GTBC Groups: (L to R) Padre Pelicans - sponsored by SPI Birding Nature Center & Alligator Sanctuary, GSM Insurers - Positive Phoebes, The Woodlands Township, TOS Wobbly Warblers

Program Partnerships

PORT A – Tackling the Brazilian Peppertree Together.
Port Aransas, is a city on Mustang Island known for its 18 miles of Gulf of Mexico beaches and fish-filled waterways. It is also one of the best places for birding in Texas with birders coming from across the country. In 2022, Port Aransas was recognized as a Bird City – implementing science backed actions and community education to protect birds where we live, work, and recreate.

Being a Bird City is hard work and cannot be done without partnerships and collaboration from a diverse network. Port Aransas knows this well with their Cooperative Weed Management Area (CWMA) - a partnership with a dozen organizations to remove the Brazilian Peppertree from Port O’Connor to Mansfield Pass. The first of its kind in Texas... READ MORE

Lights Out, Texas! Where Volunteers Shine Bright to Dim the Lights
Turning out lights across our state takes a Texas sized effort and that effort is only possible with strong partners and dedicated volunteers. Lights Out programs across the country are thriving thanks to the passion of volunteers who want to protect birds and see action taken in their communities. In Chicago, volunteers have been coming out for over 20 years!  While Lights Out Texas remains a fledgling program, we continue to witness the commitment of individuals who volunteer their mornings to monitor birds, contributing valuable data for scientific research and facilitating positive change. This past season, over ninety volunteers came out across Austin, Dallas, Houston, and Fort Worth with a significant majority hailing from Dallas. We are immensely thankful to all these volunteers!

Beach-nesting Birds and the Impacts from Hurricane Beryl
Many of our coastal birds in Texas nest directly on the beach. Species like Black Skimmers and Least Tern make a scrape in the sand and lay their eggs on the ground. Their eggs are perfectly camouflaged among the sand and shell which helps protect their eggs from predators. However, this also makes their nests susceptible to high water. When early hurricanes and tropical storms hit the Texas coast like they did this year, these birds are often the most heavily impacted.  Following Hurricane Beryl and the earlier tropical storm, Alberto our team visited sites to see how the low-lying beach-nesting sites fared. READ MORE

Audubon Conservation Ranching: Monitoring Data to be Used in Partnerships to Decide Land Management Actions
Audubon Conservation Ranching (ACR) has wrapped up spring breeding bird monitoring surveys on four ACR-certified Texas ranches with good results. There was no shortage of Painted Buntings and Scissor-tailed Flycatchers, and the team even sighted a few rarities such as Black-capped Vireo. Monitoring data will be distributed to participating ACR landowners and land managers, and will be used in collaboration with our partner, Bird Conservancy of the Rockies, to better understand how management actions like grazing affect grassland bird populations. 

The ACR program has been busy onboarding new ranches and is continuing outreach… READ MORE

Lights Out Texas - Social Media Image / Audubon Conservation Ranching Monitoring & Cow - Photo: Richard Gibbons / Least Tern - Julie Ann Schultz/Audubon Photography Awards / Brazilian Peppertree Map & Volunteers

Songs from Our Centers

Dogwood Canyon Audubon Center
Hispanic Heritage Studies Pilot Partnership 
You never know where a past connection will lead you. Many years ago, Kiersten Gibizov worked with Monica Olivera at the Fort Worth Zoo. Now part of the Dogwood Canyon team, Kiersten wanted to add Spanish language education programs to engage the diverse communities more intimately in and around Cedar Hill. Kiersten remembered her former colleague and reached out to Monica, who now owns and operates Hispanic Heritage Studies, to discuss ideas for engaging the Hispanic community.  

Hispanic Heritage Studies offers the opportunity for people to learn about the contributions of Hispanic people and culture throughout history. Monica Olivera is a Spanish-Mexican American born and raised in Texas. She creates resources to help schoolteachers and home schoolers learn about the beauty of Hispanic culture and the role of Hispanics in U.S. and World History. Monica’s work has been published on sites such as PBS Parents, NBC Latino, Woo! Jr., and many others. Monica has graciously developed a pilot curriculum with a conservation focus for Dogwood Canyon Audubon Center. 

This partnership has resulted in two amazing lesson plans that can be taught in both English and Spanish, celebrating Hispanic cultural influences in conservation. Lesson One highlights the conservation efforts and artwork of Louis Agassiz Fuertes who sketched birds, much like John James Audubon, to bring awareness to the beauty around us. Lesson Two demonstrates how Hispanic cultures utilized rainwater to grow native plants to feed themselves and the environment. This program launched on July 20, 2024 at Dogwood Canyon Audubon Center with a focus on Louis Agassiz Fuertes. The free presentation was offered in English and Spanish with the help of Sofia Lopez, an Educator at Trinity River Audubon Center.  

Mitchell Lake Audubon Center
x Latino Outdoors = Let’s Go Birding Together!
Mitchell Lake Audubon Center in San Antonio hosted its third annual Let’s Go Birding Together Beginner Bird Hike in honor of Pride Month in June.  This was the first year including Latino Outdoors as an official event partner. 

The partnership between Latino Outdoors and Mitchell Lake Audubon Center started a decade ago, when Josie Gutierrez (a 2024 Texas Women in Conservation Awardee) led the first ever walk in San Antonio for Latino Outdoors at Mitchell Lake. Since then, the partnership has blossomed.  

Over the last year, Latino Outdoors and Mitchell Lake Audubon Center have co-led six events, including nature walks at Confluence Park and Medina River Natural Area, the first annual Wellness Weekend, a Latino Conservation Week volunteer event, and most recently, the annual Let’s Go Birding Together Pride Hike.  

More than 30 people gathered at Mitchell Lake Audubon Center early on a Saturday morning, bringing together the LGBTQIA++ and Latinx Communities to celebrate Pride Month and birds! Pride-themed donuts, bird-friendly coffee, and tacos got everyone smiling as people arrived and chatted over breakfast.  

During the walk, the group observed 31 species, including hearing a Northern Bobwhite Quail in the grassland restoration area, a Crested Caracara, and a colorful Painted Bunting singing at the top of a tree. Paul Llamas, a recent graduate student, joined the walk and highlighted the partnership with Texas A&M University-San Antonio, discussing their research findings for Painted Buntings – this year’s Let’s Go Birding Together pride-themed species.  

After the walk, Latino Outdoors and Mitchell Lake Audubon Center hosted a raffle for participants, including Pride hats and water bottles donated by Latino Outdoors and REI, along with Audubon’s Let's Go Birding Together coffee mugs. 

Despite the heat of June, it was an exciting and invigorating opportunity to ensure everyone had the opportunity to feel safe and enjoy birds in the outdoors. 

Trinity River Audubon Center
Partnership with Notre Dame School
Who would have thought that our Scissortails & Cocktails event two years ago would turn into such a wonderful partnership? Mere Pace, owner of Happy Flour Baking in Dallas, provides the gift cookies for the event and she employees an extraordinary group of students from the Notre Dame School of Dallas in her kitchen. The school serves students with developmental disabilities ages 6 through 22.

Senior students at Notre Dame concentrate on developing independent living skills, job skills, and exploring career opportunities. Each semester, Notre Dame students participate in off-campus internships, where they work at one job site during the first half of the day. Through these experiences, students gain insights into diverse career opportunities and develop essential job skills.

Trinity River Audubon Center and the Notre Dame School partner together so students can learn about conservation opportunities in their community. Through the school’s internship program, a group of Notre Dame seniors assists Audubon staff with projects every Tuesday and Thursday throughout the school year. Students learn about the natural environment while enjoying the outdoors.

We are happy to share that we have completed two school years together!

Dogwood Canyon Audubon Center Hispanic Conservation Hero / Trinity River Audubon Center - Notre Dame School & Happy Flour Baking Program / Mitchell Lake Audubon Center & Latino Outdoors - Let's Go Birding together Group

Texas Chapters Awarded Audubon in Action Grant

Congratulations to Travis Audubon Society in Austin and The University of North Texas Bird Campus Committee in Denton for being chosen as recipients of Audubon in Action Grant Awards. Audubon’s 2024 grant program funds chapter projects that contribute toward Flight Plan, Audubon’s five-year strategic plan.

Successful grantees submitted project applications that showed clear pathways to success in supporting one or more of Audubon’s five strategic milestones and centered an inclusive and community-oriented approach to conservation.

Travis Audubon Society will use the grant to expand its successful youth outreach work, and conservation youth leadership opportunities.

The UNT Bird Campus Committee will install a livestream camera to monitor a breeding pair of Black Vultures at a satellite campus, Discovery Park. They will also install educational signage that will allow for students to understand the importance of vultures in our environment.

Great Horned Owl - Michael Rosen / Audubon Photography Awards

Texas Photographers in the News

This year’s Audubon Photography Awards winners include an honorable mention for a video captured at Bolivar Flats Audubon Shorebird Sanctuary, near Galveston, Texas as well as a winning photo captured in Austin, Texas. Congratulations to Tristan and Tim!

2024 Amateur Winner: Great-tailed Grackle
Photo: Tristan Vratil / Audubon Photography Awards
Hometown: Austin, Texas

2024 Video Honorable Mention: American Avocet
Video: Tim Timmis / Audubon Photography Awards Hometown: League City, TX

Tristan Vratil / Audubon Photography Awards

Join Audubon Texas today and protect bird habitat.

Thank you for your continued support of Audubon. The National Audubon Society protects birds and the places they need, today and tomorrow, throughout the Americas using science, advocacy, education, and on-the-ground conservation. Audubon's state programs, nature centers, chapters and partners have an unparalleled wingspan that reaches millions of people each year to inform, inspire and unite diverse communities in conservation action. Since 1905, Audubon's vision has been a world in which people and wildlife thrive. Audubon is a nonprofit conservation organization. For more information, events, and to find your local chapter visit https://tx.audubon.org/. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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