Video Highlights GCBO Monitored Species

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife services Houston Community Partnership Services team presents, "Wild Birds." Go on an adventure to the W.G. Jones State Forest, west Galveston Bay, and the Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge. The video highlights three different birds that call the Houston region home -- the red-cockaded woodpecker, American Oystercatcher and Attwater's prairie chicken. Watch the video here!

Protective Fencing For Burrowing Owls

We received a distress call from the ladies of LCRA Matagorda Nature Center about people harassing the Burrowing Owls roosting within the dike. GCBO shorebird biologist Taylor Bennett came to the rescue January 10th by giving the owls their own border of protection because owls need love too. Please heed the symbolic fencing and signs when visiting any of our posted sites and give the birds space. Thanks to Paige Leadford-Walters and Rachel of LCRA for helping Taylor post the signs!

Come join us for bird banding on the third Saturday of every month from 8:00 a.m. to noon. Come see birds in the hand and learn about the science of bird banding. Birds get up early, so the earlier you arrive, the more birds you'll see.

And while you're here, why not check out our native plant nursery and wander our trails too? We even have picnic tables set up for an outdoor lunch -- It's the perfect nature outing for the family!

Adopt an Oystercatcher Pair and Keep Up With All the Mating Season Drama!

It’s time again folks! We found the first American Oystercatcher nest on January 31. 12 & unbanded are leading the way as usual. Don't miss your chance to keep up with all the drama. If you would like to support this project (and we hope you would!) you can adopt a pair of oystercatchers for a $100 donation. You will receive a certificate for each member of your pair with their banding data and Sue will update you monthly on your pair's progress throughout the nesting season. When possible she will send you photos of nests and chicks. You can adopt your pair here: adopt a pair of birds or call and talk to Tricia or Sue. Thanks everyone for your continued support of this important project!

Gulf Coast Bird Observatory is holding our first ever tag-line art contest. For full rules, dates, and information see our submission flier here.

GCBO Welcomes Biology Intern, Morgan

Morgan grew up in a high-rise in Chicago. Tired of the cold, she attended UCLA, where she majored in Ecology, Behavior and Evolution, with a minor in Conservation Biology. After graduating, she worked as an Invasive Species Technician at Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge, in the Florida Keys removing species such as Burmese Pythons. She next worked in Kodiak, Alaska, as an Avian Monitoring Intern. Her position included monitoring Aleutian tern nests (and holding the chicks!), as well as living on a boat for 6 weeks and counting marine birds every day! Next she made her way to Texas. Morgan reports that she has enjoyed her time at GCBO so far: she saw Whooping Cranes her first day of work, and has been visiting the baby alligators in the pond next door every day, hoping they’ll cooperate for photos! Morgan ultimately plans to attend graduate school, and then enjoy a long career in wildlife conservation.

Get ready for Spring Fling! Billions of birds migrate thousands of miles between breeding and wintering grounds, stopping in route to refuel at coastal stopover sites. At GCBO we manage, in cooperation with the Town of Quintana, our own patch of stopover habitat, the bird sanctuaries at Quintana, just ten miles south of our Lake Jackson headquarters. 

We host a month-long Visitor Station each April, where GCBO volunteers assist with bird identification, sell snacks, field guides, t-shirts and hats, and post a daily bird list. 

This year, Spring Fling will be happening April 4 - May 6, 2020 9:00am – 4:00pm daily. See you there!

Fill Your Garden With Native Plants This Spring

If your need some new plants for your landscape this spring, stop by GCBO and take a look at our wide selection of native plants. Native plants bring in birds, butterflies, and other wildlife and are a great choice for a healthy ecosystem. You can come by our gift store and purchase your plants at any time during office hours or, you can come to our spring plant sale on the morning of April 18.

We're working on fine tuning our email list so that you only get emails that matter to you. At the very bottom of each email there is an " update profile " or " unsubscribe " link you can click that will take you to a page where you can make your selections. We now have specific lists for things like volunteer news, special announcements, events, bird of the month, and more. Please take a moment to update your preferences if you haven't already. Thank you!

You can help support GCBO's mission in several important ways!

Save a Tree and some $!

We are trying to go as paperless as we can to save some trees and quite a bit on printing and mailing costs. We would love if you would let us email you instead of snail mailing a hard copy of any correspondence, including your future copies of the Gulf Crossings. Please email or call Tricia to say: “ Hey, GCBO, please start emailing me things! Here is my email…”    Thanks!    

DONATE NOW on our website to support our conservation programs.

BECOME A MEMBER  and receive our twice a year newsletter and a 10% discount in our nature store.

Make an in-kind donation to support our sanctuary needs.

GCBO is a registered charity through Kroger's Community Rewards Program. This means that you can register your Kroger Plus Card online and select GCBO as the organization of your choice. Every time you use your Kroger Plus Card, Kroger will donate a portion back to GCBO! This is an easy way to support GCBO while you shop - your donations help us continue to protect birds and birding habitat around the Gulf Coast and beyond. To register your Plus Card, click here . Our charity number is #DN782.



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Telephone:  979-480-0999  |  Email Us