Houston Gulf Coast Area State of the Birds

Introduction

Establishing Conservation Priorities and Restoring Habitat in the Greater Houston Region

The State of the Birds reports, developed and published by the North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI), have been a fixture of the avian conservation field since their inception in 2008. The NABCI uses the latest monitoring data to assess the population status and health of all bird species in North America. In addition to presenting the data, these reports promote the use of birds as indicators of the health of our ecosystems, and provide an opportunity for the public to learn more about birds and our connection to them.

The State of the Birds reports give an overview of how the birds and ecosystems of our entire, diverse, and incredible continent are doing - a huge region to cover. But much of conservation happens at a much finer scale. So what is the state of our birds here along the upper Texas coast, in the Houston-Galveston region, where more than 500 species of birds occur?

Whether it's resident waterbirds or the migrating songbirds passing through, this region is critically important for an incredible diversity of avian species. The Houston Gulf Coast Area State of the Birds report is aimed at understanding the health of our bird population and, consequently, the environments in which we all live.

This regional State of the Birds report that follows has assembled existing data describing land use, land cover types, and bird population trends to identify priorities for conservation and restoration activities for the region. Much of these data comes from people like you - the trends you see here are provided by eBird and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, which runs on community scientists' observations. This newly-available fine-scale trend data provides an opportunity to better understand the state of our local birds.

In this map, as with all the maps included below, you can use the plus/minus buttons in the bottom right of each map to zoom in and out, use the double arrow button in the top right to expand the map to full screen, click on the supporting data to learn more, and open the legend by clicking on the icon in the bottom left of each species map. This map also includes a slider so you can explore the land cover change in the region between 1996-2016.

The following StoryMap features six iconic species that call our region home. Some are doing well thanks to ongoing conservation actions. Others are doing poorly after facing human-induced challenges like habitat loss. Here, you can learn more about each species and see how they’re doing in your backyard. Each species also has an associated call to action, which outlines what you can do at home to support their continued survival. These six species represent a suite of similar birds that are facing the same challenges and require the actions listed to ensure their long-term survival here in the greater Houston-Galveston region.

Support All Birds

Birds across our region are in dire need of our help. The birds highlighted above are just a small sample of the 500 species that utilize the Upper Texas Coast and face daily threats from human activities. However, we can help them thrive when we work together to create more bird-friendly spaces! There are many ways for you to aid our birds by getting involved at the local, state, or national level. Check out the information below to see how you can support all birds!