Bird City Texas
An energetic committee of conservation-minded individuals from Bexar Audubon Society led the effort to certify San Antonio as a Bird City Texas to join Dallas, Houston, Bastrop, and Port Aransas.
BAS Awards 14 Mini-Grants
Bexar Audubon Society has made grant awards to fund 14 community initiatives that support the goals of the Bird City program. BAS Mini-Grant awards for 2021 were made for the following projects:
- Alfredo P. Llamas, Texas A&M - San Antonio, Visitor Use and Avian Diversity Before, During, and After the Covid-19 Pandemic in San Antonio, Texas
- Allison Hayne, South Texas Songbirds, Purple Martin Neighborhood Project
- Amanda Kingman, South San Antonio ISD, Outdoor Education Program
- Becky Etzler, Riverside Nature Center, Better Birding
- Don Kirchoff, Kirchoff Prairie Restoration Site, Manfreda Restoration Project
- Herlinda Martinez-Longoria , Columbia Heights Elementary, Butterfly Kisses and Garden Wishes, our wings will grow and unfold...
- JD Morales, Woodlawn Lake Neighborhood Association, Winged Friends of Woodlawn Lake Park: Community Education Project
- Jose A. Macias Jr., St Paul’s Episcopal Montessori School, A Glimpse of Nature
- Joy Tuxhorn, Young Women's Leadership Academy, YWLA Pollinator Garden
- Kenneth Lagleder, Lytle High School, Lytle High School Habitat Improvement Project
- Leigh Owen, Friends of Cibolo Wilderness, Completion of New Bird Blind at Herff Farm
- Leslie Gongora, Kerrville ISD Early Childhood Office, Humming Our
Way to Pre-K - Pamela Ball, Headwaters at Incarnate Word, Headwaters Sanctuary Information
- Teresa Craig, Kirchoff Prairie Restoration Site, The Kirchoff Prairie Bird Box Project
How You Can Help Prevent Bird Window Collisions
From Audubon.org: Birds face innumerable threats in our human built environment and our glass surfaces are one of the biggest. During daylight hours, birds collide with reflective surfaces when they stop to feed or rest, when avoiding a predator or flying from tree to tree. Shiny glass exteriors, internal plants near windows, glass corners, and greenery close to buildings can all be deadly as birds are unable to distinguish reflection from open flyway. For every collision victim found, three more typically go unseen, flying out of sight before falling or being carried away by predators.
Read more about how you can help.
San Antonio Achieves Bird City Texas Designation
A steering committee led by co-chairs Britt Coleman and Sherie Gee and representing a variety of concerned groups, such as the Mitchell Lake Audubon Center, Native Plant Society, San Antonio Parks & Recreation, and many others, completed an application and submitted it in December 2020 for San Antonio to be certified as a Bird City Texas.
On February 11, the announcement was made that their efforts paid off! Read the press release from Texas Parks & Wildlife Department here. But our work isn't finished; we'll let you know about upcoming opportunities to get involved in carrying out our Bird City Texas projects.
Check out this video from Texas Parks & Wildlife. Click here for a flyer about our Bird City Texas efforts.
The San Antonio Report's Feb. 13 article (Cedar Waxwings photo above is from the story) features BAS members who worked very hard on the Bird City Texas (BCT) application and outlines some of the upcoming BCT-related projects we'll be undertaking with help from volunteers.
Submit Your BAS Community Mini-grant Application!
If you have a community conservation project that could use a little extra funding, apply for a Bexar Audubon Society Community Mini-grant.
- Grants awarded range from $100 to $1000 for community conservation projects
- Gardens, bird blinds, water features, bird houses, habitat improvement
- Educational events, materials, or community outreach efforts
- Be creative!
Click here for the application. Your deadline to submit is October 16, 2023.
BAS Creates Community Grant Support Fund
In December 2021, Bexar Audubon Society initiated the Community Grant Support Fund, a dedicated fund maintained by Bexar Audubon
Society. The Fund is used to support community conservation initiatives that further the goals of Bird City Texas within the geographic region served by BAS (Atascosa, Bandera, Bexar, Comal, Guadalupe, Kendall, Kerr, Medina, and Wilson counties). Donors to BAS may designate this fund when making donations. Donations into this fund will either be allocated during the current fiscal year or rolled over to the following fiscal year.
Learn Why It's a Bad Idea to Feed Ducks Bread
You see people feeding bread to ducks at area ponds, lakes and rivers all the time. But a diet heavy in breads and other empty carbohydrates can lead to severe health consequences and numerous additional problems for ducks and other water fowl. Read more about why it's a bad idea to feed ducks bread.
Read this Call to Action for Keeping Birds Safe from Light Pollution and Window Strikes
Arthur Melville Pearson, CEO of the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History, has a written a sobering essay called "The Fall of the Sparrow," which really brings home the most unfortunate ways that light pollution and window strikes bring down birds--possibly ONE BILLION die a year. Click here to read this powerful article.
YOU can ACT to make San Antonio More Bird Friendly!
Do Citizen Science: Enter your bird sightings in eBird. Post photos of birds, plants, animals, butterflies and other insects to iNaturalist. Use the Merlin bird ID app to help identify the birds you see. Participate in the local Audubon Christmas Bird Count and Climate Change counts.
Make Windows Safer: A variety of products are available to place on or next to windows to prevent birds from hitting them. American Bird Conservancy offers several items on their website. Learn how to make a Zen Wind Curtain or purchase one from Acopian BirdSavers. Watch a couple of brief videos about how turning lights out at night can help migratory birds. Video 1 and Video 2.
Keep Cats Indoors: Protect Cats – Birds – Humans: Your kitty doesn't have to stay indoors ALL the time. Buy a catio (cat + patio = catio) plan from Catio Spaces to build a safe, enclosed outdoor area to keep cats and birds safe. Buy pre-made catios at Petco or Catio World. The American Bird Conservancy provides safe solutions for pets on their website.
Avoid Pesticides: Native plants are your best defense against pests. Texas AgriLife has an informative brochure, "Low Impact Pest Control for Everyone," featuring natural remedies for insect and pest control.
Drink Shade-grown Coffee: Ruta Maya is but one shade-grown coffee producer with product available locally. Audubon offers Smithsonian Bird-friendly certified coffee. Birdwatching Bliss provides detailed information about bird friendly coffee. Check out the Cornell Lab's video and articles about bird-friendly coffee.
Reduce Plastic Use: Audubon offers the informative article, "Eight Easy Ways to Reduce Your Plastic Waste." If you live in San Antonio, review acceptable plastics for recycling on this City of San Antonio webpage. We have a Thoughtful Consumer column on the Bexar Audubon website with ideas for non-plastic products to use around the house.
Invest in Solar Energy: Chosen by CPS Energy, Big Sun Community Solar is a new, hassle free way to buy solar energy. Big Sun builds, manages, maintains and insures your offsite solar system while you lower your monthly electric bill and claim the tax savings!
Save Water: San Antonio Water System (SAWS) offers a variety of water-saving programs on their website.
Conserve Resources: Learn how reducing, reusing, and recycling can help you, your community, and the environment by saving money, energy, and natural resources.
Cut Back on Chemicals: White vinegar, rubbing alcohol, and baking soda are all great ingredients you can use to make your own household cleansers.
Create Compost: Start a compost pile to provide natural, organic material to help your plants grow.
Turn Your Lawn into a Xeriscape: In urban areas of Texas, about 25 percent of the water supply is used for landscape and garden watering. Creating a xeriscape with native plants is a good way to provide food for birds and butterflies while cutting back on your water usage.