Animal Attraction: Rare tropical bird spotted in Austin

The fork-tailed flycatcher, native to Central and South America, was spotted by birder Shelia Hargis Saturday near McKinney Falls State Park during Travis County Audubon’s annual Christmas Bird Count.

Texas Parks and Wildlife biologist Mark Klym attributes the bird sighting so far North as a product of a confused migration path.

“The fork-tailed flycatcher usually comes from Argentina to Mexico at this time of year,” Klym said. “Every once and a while one of them seems to overfly that northbound migration and end up in Texas.”

Females are usually around 12 inches and males are larger at around 15 inches long. Though the bird is around a foot long it only weighs about an ounce making it ideal for gliding through thousands of miles of airspace.

On Monday it was reported there were two fork-tailed flycatchers in the area, yet upon inspection of the image it was determined to be the flycatcher sitting with one of its relatives, the scissor-tailed flycatcher.

“We have so many people coming from all over Texas and the U.S. to see this bird,” said park ranger Amber Conrad. “This bird is relatively small, it’s like a little cotton ball with some black string hanging off of it for its head and its tail.”

Continued:  http://www.khou.com/community/blogs/animal-attraction/Animal-Attraction--Rare-tropical-bird-spotted-in-Austin-184415511.html

Wildflower Center Awards $638,000 to Protect Endangered Species

Nov. 1, 2012

AUSTIN, Texas — Eight organizations supporting the conservation of federally endangered species have been awarded grants totaling $637,858 distributed by The University of Texas at Austin’s Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

The one-year Endangered Species Conservation Grants are to conduct conservation research or set aside habitat to assist the recovery of Texas’ black-capped vireo, golden-cheeked warbler, Navasota ladies’ tresses, Texas prairie dawn and Tobusch fishhook cactus. The two bird and three plant species are listed under the Endangered Species Act.

The Wildflower Center was chosen by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to distribute the funds based partly on the center’s conservation efforts for the three endangered plant species. “The Wildflower Center cares for about a dozen plant species that are endangered or rare in Texas and has years of experience in this area,” said Karen Clary, the center’s manager of plant conservation. Clary manages the new conservation grant program.

The grant recipients were chosen by Wildflower Center and outside experts on the endangered species. Their projects are:

Black-capped vireo, $39,478: Rich Kostecke, The Nature Conservancy and colleagues will count male and female vireos during their breeding season at multiple locations in Val Verde County. The surveys at Dolan Falls Preserve and other conservancy-affiliated land along the upper Devils River will improve statewide statistics on the vireo. Studies will also be done to determine whether vegetation changes on this land over time shift the birds’ habitat.

Continued:  http://www.utexas.edu/news/2012/11/01/wildflower-center-awards-grants-protect-endangered-species/