In the first article, I recommended using a North American birder’s field guide.  One real problem for me has been there are a lot of birds in the book that will probably never be seen in our area.  To me, this makes it more difficult when you are sorting through the various birds and trying to decide what you saw.  So, there are several things you can do to try to determine this and the reason for calling this what/when/where.

The first thing for most people is to look at the birds distinguishing features (e.g., color, size, shape) and compare them to the field guide. You should also look at the range map in the book and see if the bird is expected to be here.  The better range maps will be color coded to the seasons the birds have been reported in particular areas.   

However, there are several potential problems with the range maps.  These tend to be generalizations and sometimes don’t fit the variety of birds that can occur here.   A couple of reasons for this are “birds have wings” so you can never be sure what may turn up and - changing ranges for some birds.   

As previously mentioned the “Birds of Southern Brazoria County, Texas” compiled by the Brazosport Birders and Naturalists and published by the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory (GCBO) is another great place to look.  “What” is addressed in the booklet as a list of 321 species of birds that could be present in our area at some point in the year.  “When” is addressed in a seasonal listing with potential frequencies of seeing a particular species.  “Where” is addressed in a map and key to some of the places to bird in our area. 

This booklet and an even better area birding map are available from the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory (GCBO) in Lake Jackson.   See www.gcbo.org for more information about GCBO.

Other important factors in identifying birds are habitat and behavior.  Some area wading birds (e.g., Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Tricolored Heron, and Little Blue Heron) are most likely to be seen around fresh water.  Reddish Egrets are more likely to be seen in brackish to salt water.  Roseate Spoonbills seem to like both. Note that it is very rare that a flamingo is seen in our area so that large pink bird you are seeing is most likely a spoonbill.  

The typical birds we see in our backyards year-round include Cardinals, Carolina Chickadees, Tufted Titmouse, Blue Jays, Carolina Wrens, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Mourning Doves, Eurasian Collared Doves, and House Sparrows.  It may not be the same individual birds we are seeing but these are generally around all the time.

Of course, if you are living along the river your typical backyard birds may be in the wading bird category.

So, when and where are the best places to see birds in our area?  The where are those public spaces that we can get to on a routine basis such as the Brazoria and San Bernard National Wildlife Refuges, Brazos Bend State Park, Quintana Neotropical Sanctuary, GCBO, Dow Centennial Park in Lake Jackson, and the beach/bay/gulf area.           

When is more complicated.  The refuges, Brazos Bend and GCBO can be good places to go year round.  Weather conditions and many other factors can influence whether birds are there on any given day.  Winter is generally better than summer since there are so many birds that are winter residents here.  It is also a lot easier to be walking around when it is cooler and not as humid.

Typical winter birds include geese, ducks, Sandhill Cranes, American Robins, American Goldfinches, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Eastern Phoebes, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Double-crested Cormorants, White Pelicans and raptors such as Northern Harriers, American Kestrels and Ospreys.  Bobcat Woods at the San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge, GCBO, Brazos Bend and Dow Centennial Park are good places to see forest birds like robins, kinglets, gnatcatchers and other migrants in the winter.   

Spring migration and fall migration brings much more variety to our area.  Places like the Quintana Neotropical Sanctuary, Bobcat Woods, the Betty Brown Unit and Hudson Woods Unit of the San Bernard Wildlife Refuge, and GCBO in Lake Jackson are good places to look for migrating songbirds especially after a cold front moves through our area. Some of  the migrants that I saw at Quintana in April 2008 included Painted and Indigo Buntings, Rose-breasted and Blue Grosbeaks, White-eyed and Red-eyed Vireos, Baltimore and Orchard Orioles, Grey Catbird, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Brown Thrasher, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, three thrushes (Wood, Swainson’s and Veery), and many different warblers (Bay-breasted, Black-and-white, Blackburnian, Blackpoll, Black-throated Blue, Black-throated green, Blue-winged, Cape May, Cerulean, Chestnut- sided,  Hooded, Kentucky, Magnolia, Nashville, Prothonotary, Worm-eating, Yellow, and Northern Waterthrush).

Summer is a good time to drive through the refuges or visit Brazos Bend early in the morning/late in the afternoon to look for birds. If it is dry, wading birds tend to concentrate in the small pools so you can sometimes see lots of them.  Also, this is breeding time for birds and you may see baby Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, Black-necked Stilts, American Coots, Common Moorhens or even Purple Gallinules.       

Summer is also a good time to look for Wood Storks that are an early migrant and are headed back south.  Wood Storks are an endangered species and are found in Florida year-round.  Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge is the best place I know around here to look for these birds.  I have seen them there in late May but more typically around July or later.  They tend to travel together so I have seen groups of 50 or more at a time.  Another trick is to look closely at that large flock of large white birds lazily circling in the sky.  It may be Wood Storks instead of White Pelicans. 

Purple Gallinules are another migrant that is here from the south for spring and summer.  Look for these birds around water in the refuges and Brazos Bend.  The photo above is of a Purple Gallinule taken at Brazos Bend in July, 2006.

My last planned topic is “Resources” describing guides, groups and websites that can help you learn more about bird identification and birding locations.     

David Plunkett