Bird City Texas

Houston is a Bird City

In 2020 Houston was certified as one of four Texas cities honored with the Bird City designation 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 Houston's Lights Out for Birds program were among the many efforts and programs that gained Houston this designation.

Are you interested in checking some of the efforts that helped Houston reach its status as Bird City? Check out the links below.

Learn more about our certification as a Bird City by reading the press release: Bird City Texas - Press Release

What Makes Houston a Bird City?

Check out all the programs and initiatives that help make Houston a Bird City!

Simple actions like keeping cats indoors, treating windows, avoiding pesticides, and limiting your use of plastic can all help both migratory and resident birds in Houston. Click here to read more about how you can take actions at home and in your community to help keep Houston a true Bird City.

Houston Audubon and partners across the city have been growing and promoting the use of native plants in yards, schools, and communities! Planting native plants is one of the most important things you can do to establish a healthy habitat and support birds in our city. Learn more and find places to purchase natives by following this link.

There are a number of community/citizen science initiatives in the Houston region that you can get involved with! Scientists and conservationists use data gathered by community scientists to better understand how populations are doing and improve efforts for protecting birds and other wildlife in our region. For a list of opportunities, follow the link below.

Lights Out Action Alerts are distributed during times when high predicted migration through our region coincides with a weather front. By using Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s BirdCast program, Houston Audubon staff are able to track predicated migration levels and weather forecasts to make science-based determinations of when birds at the greatest risk of collision.

Much has been done in Houston over the past decade to welcome the use of alternative forms of transportation to the Bayou City! Interested in finding a new way to get around Houston? Click below for a list of all the alternative modes of transportation available in the city, from ride-share apps to corridors of hike-and-bike trails!

 

Over the past century, urbanization has taken contiguous, ecologically productive land and fragmented and transformed it with sterile lawn and exotic ornamental plants. Houston Audubon and partners encourage development that contributes to functioning ecosystems and healthy habitats for birds and people. Download the Bird-Friendly Habitat Guide to learn more.