TEXAS WILDLIFE
Brownsville Birding
a little about our journey
On our way to be a
Bird City Texas!
In 2022 Brownsville has been diligently working to become a Bird City Texas designation and will apply to become officially certified from Audubon Texas, and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s inaugural Bird City Texas certification program.
This new, community-focused certification program has been created to help people protect birds and their habitats. The growing popularity of planting native plants, restoring the native prairies, bird-friendly education programs, and Visit Brownsville's program were among the many efforts and programs that will make Brownsville a Bird City Texas designation.
Learn more about birds in Brownsville!
WORLD MIGRATORY BIRD DAY
Connecting Events with a Global Campaign
World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) is an annual awareness-raising campaign highlighting the need for the conservation of migratory birds and their habitats. It has a global outreach and is an effective tool to help raise global awareness of the threats faced by migratory birds, their ecological importance, and the need for international cooperation to conserve them. Every year people around the world take action and organize public events such as bird festivals, education programmes, exhibitions and bird-watching excursions to celebrate WMBD. All these activities can also be undertaken at any time on the year because that countries or regions observing the peak of migrations at different times, but the main days for the international celebrations on the second Saturday in May and in October.
Our EFFORTS to BECOME A Bird City Texas
Dark Skies – Brownsville Dark Sky Movement
The South Texas Astronomical Society (STARSociety) is teaming up with local partners to fight light pollution in Brownsville and save our night sky. They are working to designate Brownsville as an International Dark Sky Community by educating their community on the importance of decreasing light pollution. An International Dark Sky Community is an organized community that demonstrates dedication to the preservation of the night sky through the implementation of a dark sky protocol.
They created a petition to bring awareness to the issue and aid their journey towards implementing a dark sky ordinance. Dark sky protocols are outdoor lighting ordinances that enforce “quality of light over quantity.” Their implementation, along with public education and awareness of the benefits of the mindful use and placement of lighting, are how cities achieve the status of an International Dark Sky Community.
The benefits of dark skies include: Support of healthy hormone production, cell function, and brain activity; Decrease in mental conditions caused by or related to sleep disorders; Maintaining normal feeding, mating, and migratory behavior for animals; Preserving the natural night sky provides more stargazing opportunities; and higher quality of scientific research in the field of astronomy.
TEXAS PARKS AND WILDLIFE
Birds of Resaca de la Palma State Park Field Checklist
Download our field checklist for Birds of Resaca de la Palma State Park, which includes 284 bird species from the area!
American Bird Conservancy
Bird Conservancy Campaign
American Bird Conservancy is dedicated to conserving wild birds and their habitats throughout the Americas. While they have made great strides with bird conservation, many birds continue to experience major population declines and need our help more than ever. For more than 25 years, ABC has been standing up for wild birds and their habitats.
You can make a gift to their Save a Place for birds 1:1 Matching Campaign.
Your gift will make an immediate impact on bird habitat conservation.
BUILDING FRIENDLY RESOURCES RESOURCES
Bird-Friendly Building Design
Why Birds Hit Windows—And How You Can Help Prevent It
The good news is that you can greatly reduce the danger your home’s windows pose to birds with some simple remedies, according to Christine Sheppard, who directs the Bird Collisions Program of the American Bird Conservancy. The group offers extensive information on preventing collisions on its website. The Fatal Light Awareness Program also offers great information on preventing bird collisions.
American Bird Conservancy
Better for Cats, Better for Birds, Better for People
Cat Indoors Program
TEXAS PARKS AND WILDLIFE
Fur-Bearing Animal Regulations
It is a Class C misdemeanor to transport or sell live foxes, coyotes and raccoons from, to, or within this state. For additional information, please contact the Zoonosis Control Division of the Texas Department of Health at (512) 458-7255.
For other information concerning hunting and fishing regulations, parks, wildlife or other subjects related to TPWD, call our toll-free number: (800) 792-GAME to report a violation of the state's game and fish laws. A reward may be offered to eligible callers who provide information which leads to a conviction.
FLORA IN BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS
Native Plants
Brownsville, Texas is a part of an ecoregion that is known as the Gulf Coast Prairies and Marshes. Made up of a mosaic of salt marshes, tidal flats, dunes, bays, and estuaries, this ecoregion hosts a high degree of biodiversity. Owing to close proximity to the Gulf of Mexico, most plants of this ecoregion are halophytes, meaning they have some degree of tolerance for salt. Home to several of Texas’s largest cities, the Gulf Coast Prairies and Marshes’ fragile ecosystems are threatened by urbanization, oil and gas development, coastal erosion, and pollution.
Some native plants in Brownsville, TX include American Beauty-Berry (Callicarpa americana), Blood Sage (Salvia coccinea), and Cedar Elm (Ulmus crassifolia). These plants would help attract birds like chickadees, hummingbirds, and finches to your yard.
AUDOBON RESOURCES
Audubon Texas is the state branch of the National Audubon Society, dedicated for over 100 years to conserving and restoring natural ecosystems, focusing on birds, other wildlife, and their habitats for the benefit of humanity and the earth's biological diversity.
Native Plants
An interactive map that provides information on what native plants can provide food sources for our local ecosystem.
Texas Invasive Plants
The Texas Invasives website provides a link to what invasive plants in our area disturb our local ecosystem.
Bird City Community FAQ'S
The Audobon Organization website has some very useful information in regards to bird-friendly communities.
BROWNSVILLE GREAT OUTDOORS ACTIVITIES
Sabal Palms; A Magnificent Spot For Bird Watching.
Sabal Palms is a magnificent spot for bird watching because it’s in the middle of two of the most significant aviary fly-ways in North America. Hundreds of species migrate through this region every year. It’s the last of the Sabal Palm forests and the only natural palm preserve in the state. Enthusiasts still have an opportunity to experience this rare subtropical ecosystem.
Guests have access to over 3-miles of walking trails, bird viewing blinds, feeding stations, butterfly gardens, and a river observation deck. In the center of the 557-acre wildlife refuge sits the Rabb Plantation house. Crafted in 1892, the magnificent mansion is fully restored with Victorian-era chandeliers, couches, original fireplaces, doorknobs, and stairs. Guests can enjoy this one-of-a-kind experience first hand and stay overnight at the plantation’s bed and breakfast.
Before building the dams, the Rio Grande was wide and deep, and steamships traveled from New Orleans to Mexico to Brownsville. The Rabb house gives us a glimpse into how people lived along the Rio Grande delta back in the day. You can visualize a lost time when riverboat trade was just a few steps of the house porch.
TEXAS PARKS AND WILDLIFE
Birds of Resaca de la Palma State Park Field Checklist
