Conservation News

“If you really think the environment is less important than economy, try holding your breath while you count your money.” [by Dr. Guy McPherson, environmental, health and industry activist]

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Purchase Your 2023-2024 Duck Stamp from BAS!

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service produces the Stamp, which raises approximately $40 MILLION in sales each year. These crucial dollars are deposited into the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund, and they go toward the acquisition or lease of habitat in the National Refuge System from willing sellers. Eighty-five years after the Stamp was established, sales of the Duck Stamp to hunters, bird watchers, outdoor enthusiasts, and collectors have raised more than $1 BILLION. This amount has gone to conserve SIX MILLION acres of wetland and grassland habitat for birds and other wildlife, providing meaningful opportunities to enjoy our National Wildlife Refuge System.

Duck Stamps still cost only $25 (the face value) each. You can buy your Duck Stamp in person at the next BAS Monthly Meeting and can purchase a holder to attach your stamp to your binoculars for $1.  OR you can buy your Duck Stamps by mail by adding just $1 extra per order for as many stamps as you want to purchase at one time.

To purchase your stamps by mail, send your order with the following information:

• Your Name
• Your Mailing Address
• Check made payable to Bexar Audubon Society for the total number of stamps in your order, plus $1 postage and handling per order.

Mail your information and check to:

Patsy Inglet
25901 Goldfinch Trl
San Antonio, TX  78255

Your Duck Stamp shows that you support Migratory Birds and their Habitats AND it will admit you to any National Wildlife Refuge that charges an entry fee.

Get yours soon. Supplies are LIMITED!

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Coalition for Sustainable Rookeries in Bexar County Seeks to Develop Workable Strategies 

The Coalition for Sustainable Urban Rookeries is a group of science-based organizations that seek to develop community-inclusive strategies to address the urban-avian conflicts in Bexar County. 

Urban bird rookeries are colonies of birds that gather in large groups during nesting season. These birds include colonial waterbirds like gulls, terns, cormorants, pelicans, herons, egrets, and ibises.

The urban-avian conflict in Brackenridge Park involving a Cattle Egret rookery has negatively impacted water quality in the San Antonio River, caused the closure of playgrounds and structures, created areas unusable by guests/staff due to feces, and threatened endangered species cared for by the San Antonio Zoo.

It is important to develop sustainable urban rookery management plans to balance the well-being and habitat availability of local wildlife populations, our river's water quality, and the community's public health and quality of life.

The long-term goal of the Coalition for Sustainable Urban Rookeries is to develop science-based solutions and community-inclusive strategies to address urban-avian conflicts in Bexar County. Read more.

Proposed Strategy in a Nutshell

Objective: Draw colonial nesting wading birds away from urban parks or neighborhoods by creating multiple attractive rookery environments far from urban centers, airports, etc. Creating multiple sites increases probability of success.

What the colonial nesting wading birds want: These birds are looking for a space safe from predators with a food source nearby and structures in which to build their nests. Food source is primarily aquatic: fish, crustaceans, amphibians. In particular, the birds are attracted to small islands since the surrounding water inhibits most predators. The water shoreline needs to be relatively shallow to allow foraging with a gentle slope to deeper water.

Strategy: Find ponds or lakes with desired shoreline and water year-round. Simulate islands by using artificial nesting structures (ANS) in the deeper part of the lake. Number of ANS is tied to size of lake and used to indirectly manage rookery size. So a large lake may have 10-15 structures with six platforms each, while a small lake may have five structures with four platforms each. The birds will prefer the ANS to trees because they are surrounded by water.

The member organizations of the Coalition for Sustainable Urban Rookeries are Audubon Texas, San Antonio Zoo, The Nature Conservancy in Texas, Bexar Audubon Society, and San Antonio River Authority.

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Do You Have a Purple Martin House in Need of Rehab?

Did you know that east of the Rocky Mountains, Purple Martins depend 100% on human-supplied housing? It's important to keep Purple Martin houses in good condition for Purple Martins to use when they return to Texas for nesting in February. Otherwise, invasive species such as House Sparrows and European Starlings will use them. Bexar Audubon Society would like you to email us at [email protected] with your contact info and a photo (if possible) of the Purple Martin house you'd like to donate for rehabilitation. Click here for a flyer about how to be a successful Purple Martin landlord.

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Join and Support the Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Take Advantage of the Great Learning Opportunities Offered

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology offers a variety of online courses to help you with bird ID, gardening for birds, photography, learning to draw and paint pictures of birds, and more. Check out the courses offered here.

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Opinion: A woodpecker is officially declared extinct. Why should we care?

Opinion Piece by Bruce Beehler. Published in the Washington Post: October 1, 2021

Bruce Beehler is a local naturalist and author of 12 books, including “Natural Encounters” and “Birds of Maryland, Delaware, and the District of Columbia.”

On April 28, 2005, conservationists and government officials held a press conference that made headlines across the world. Their bombshell announcement: the ivory-billed woodpecker, long thought extinct, had been rediscovered in bottomland forest in Arkansas. The bird had last been seen in 1944. Here was an example of the phoenix-like rebirth of a “lost” species—an icon of the great old-growth forests of the Deep South and a species that had charmed the imaginations of great American naturalists from John James Audubon to Roger Tory Peterson. There are very few natural history stories over the last century that equal this one for the excitement, joy, and amazement it generated.

Now, fifteen years later, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) has issued another announcement, formally declaring the ivory-billed woodpecker to be extinct. Most of those in the know will not be surprised, though the finality of the story is causing sadness. Read the rest of the article here.

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Speak Up for Texas Wildlife!

The bipartisan Recovering America’s Wildlife Act is gaining attention in the U.S. Senate and building momentum. We need ALL TEXANS to help our fish and wildlife by contacting our U.S. Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz to ask that they cosponsor the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act, S.2372 (see contact info and sample message below).

Recovering America’s Wildlife Act would be a game changer for Texas’ at-risk fish and wildlife and their habitats. You can learn more by watching this video or visiting this website. In addition, please read the following:

Decline of North American Avifauna. Rosenberg et al. 2019. Science 365(6461)

Direct Mortality of Birds from Anthropogenic Causes. Loss, Will, Marra. 2015. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics Vol. 46:99-120.

Three Billion Birds Report: Cornell Lab of Ornithology

3 Billion Birds Gone: American Bird Conservancy

Phone calls and messages from Texans to our Senators would go a long way to encourage their support for protecting fish and wildlife.

Senator John Cornyn:
Call D.C. Office: 202-224-2934
Send a message through his website.

Senator Ted Cruz
Call D.C. Office: 202-224-5922
Send a message through his website.

Sample message/call script:

As a Texas constituent, I would like to ask that Senator _______ please vote yes for the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act, S.2372. This bipartisan legislation is a common-sense conservation approach that is good for fish and wildlife, good for business, good for working lands, and good for Texans. Thank you!

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New Conservation License Plate

A new conservation license plate designed by Houston Audubon and sponsored by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is now available. The new plate is dedicated to protecting birds and their habitat and features an Eastern Meadowlark, an iconic prairie species commonly found throughout Texas. This species was chosen because it is in need of conservation action and the habitat is one that Houston Audubon is deeply committed to restoring. For each license plate, $22 of the annual $30 fee will be used toward Houston Audubon’s bird conservation efforts. For more information and to order, visit the Conservation License Plate page on Houston Audubon’s website.

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Thoughtful Consumer

Click here for a list of products that can help you reduce the use of plastic in your everyday life.

 

 

 

 

Bird-friendly Products

From retailers that ship all over the nation to local butchers and shops, here is a guide to the ranches and retailers that sell products raised on Audubon-certified bird-friendly land.

 

 

 

Keep your cat safely enclosed in an outdoor space while protecting birds and other wildlife. Catio Spaces offers DIY plans for building any one of a variety of cat patio (catio) designs. Use the promo code BirdsRus at checkout and BAS will receive a 10% donation.

 

 

 

 

Bird netting, which is commonly used in gardens to keep birds and other wildlife from getting to your fruits and veggies, can also be dangerous to animals. Watch this brief video to find out why you should not use netting in your garden. Alternatives are shown that are safer and less likely to harm wildlife that may get tangled in netting.

 

 

 

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Changes in SA Materials Accepted for Recycling 

The City of San Antonio has updated their website to show you what's acceptable for recycling in the way of paper, plastic, metal, and glass. The San Antonio Report offers an in-depth article about recycling locally and elsewhere.

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