Bird City Texas
The Prize
Mimi Cavender and Betsy Cross
TPWD news release: Bird City Texas Certifies Five New Cities & Their First High-Flyer
AUSTIN, Jan. 16, 2025 – Audubon Texas and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) are excited to announce College Station, Denton, Kerrville, San Marcos and Wimberley have joined the Bird City Texas flock, while Galveston has become its first High-flyer.
Congratulations! Hays County now claims three Bird Cities: Dripping Springs, Wimberley, and San Marcos, raising the total to 15 Texas cities so far.
This March 2025 issue of The Hays Humm is for the birds—Hays County’s three Bird Cities! We celebrate them in this issue with a collection of articles. Our readers, local and beyond, can discover in detail how the Bird City initiative is an important step forward in Texas nature conservation.
This first article is Bird City Texas: The Prize—What is the prestigious Bird City designation and how does a community get it?
The second article is Hays’ Bird Cities: Places, Planning, and The Point—Where are the places and projects that led to Bird City certification?
The third article is Bird Cities Work! People, Projects, and Protection—a photo gallery, which can only partially represent the hundreds of organizers and volunteers working in communities across Hays County to expand and sustain prestigious Audubon Bird City designation.
Dawn Houston and Paul Fushille spot birds from the Charro Ranch bird blind. Photo courtesy Tom Hausler
The Prize
So what is the Prize? And how will your community certify?
Bird City is a certification program developed by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department in collaboration with Audubon Texas. According to the Audubon Texas Bird City website, the program's purpose is "to help people protect birds and their habitats where we live, work, and recreate." Certification requirements are designed to address habitat loss and other harmful impacts on birds.
Photos from Project FeederWatch by Eva Frost, Hays Humm, April 2023
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) manages and conserves the natural and cultural resources of Texas and provides hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation opportunities for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. Find them at tpwd.texas.gov/socialmedia
Audubon Texas is the state office of the National Audubon Society. The National Audubon Society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit conservation organization that protects birds and the places they need, today and tomorrow, throughout the Americas, using science, advocacy, education, and on-the-ground conservation. Audubon Texas’s state programs, three nature centers in San Antonio and Dallas-Fort Worth, the South Texas sanctuary, and a network of 21 local chapters and numerous partners have an unparalleled wingspan that reaches millions of people each year to inform, inspire, and unite diverse communities in conservation action. Audubon’s vision is a world in which people and wildlife thrive.
“Where birds thrive, people prosper,” said Chloe Crumley, Audubon Texas engagement manager. “Human-dominated landscapes can support functioning ecosystems. Bird City Texas is an opportunity for communities to commit to standards that elevate urban areas to be ecologically richer and in turn offer us more beautiful, resilient and healthful places to live. We are excited to see more cities across Texas commit to this program.”
So, we commit to standards, gather and coordinate our programs, and then apply.
“As development continues across the state, reducing viable habitat for our resident and migratory birds, cities that engage their community to maintain or create habitat are crucial for our dwindling bird populations,” said Judit Green, TPWD urban wildlife biologist. “We need everyone’s help! We all have the ability to make a difference in our homes, schools, businesses and public city spaces by adding native plants and following environmentally friendly practices that support safe, healthy areas for birds and us.”
“Much good can be done when will and skill come together in community. Communities can be corporations, nonprofits, small businesses, special interest societies and clubs, trained volunteer organizations, youth organizations, public administrators and staff, and our families and neighbors.” From Naturalists Rooted in Community by Tina Adkins, Hays Humm December 2023. Photo courtesy Tom Hausler
TPWD’s news release continues:
As spring approaches, certified communities will host a variety of events across the state in support of breeding birds migrating back to northern nesting territories as well as World Migratory Bird Day on May 10. Interested participants are encouraged to visit the websites of certified cities, Audubon Texas, and TPWD for opportunities to celebrate and learn more about how to support birds.
Communities across the state are encouraged to apply to the Bird City Texas program in service of building a network of bird-friendly cities that protect birds and enrich the lives of all Texans. Applications will open soon and must be completed by June 1st.
For more information about the Bird City Texas program, visit https://birdcity.org/texas. And continue reading the rest of our coverage in Hays’ Bird Cities and Bird Cities Work! for details about certification.