Bird Conservation Education
The Trans-Pecos Birds Conservation seeks to educate others through a variety of means on how bird conservation can benefit habitat, birds, community tourism, and rural economies. To that end, we have developed a variety of tools such as pamphlets on improving bird habitat, bird identification tools, bird checklists, and other related materials.
Community Awareness Strategies & Educational Programs
The TBC has worked with the Fort Davis and Valentine Independent School Districts and their 5th Grade Science Classes. We have donated to each classroom the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology Bird Migration Studies kits and multiple copies of the National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds to each school. The in-class migration study was followed up with a day of field studies with a hummingbird banding field trip led by TBC volunteers.
Guide to Birding the Davis Mountains & Adjacent Communities
The guide to birding was developed by TBC volunteers to provide information to birders on great birding hotspots around a portion of the Trans-Pecos region. Hard copies of the guide are available at regional visitor centers or electronically by clicking on the image to the right.
Water for Wild Birds: Tools for Arid Landscapes
West Texas landowners and residents are encouraged to lend a hand in conserving the birds of the Trans-Pecos. A new publication Water for Wild Birds: Tools for Arid Landscapes is now available to help folks who enjoy seeing birds provide the resources they need so birds can thrive in the Chihuahuan Desert. The project originated with the Davis Mountains Hummingbird Celebration and was guided by the Trans-Pecos Bird Conservation Inc. and the Tierra Grande Master Naturalists’ chapter. Additional support was provided by the Borderlands Research Institute at Sul Ross State University and private funding. You may download an electronic version by clicking on the image to the left.
Rainwater Harvesting Guide Books Donated to Public Libraries
The TBC team developing Water for Wild Birds drew inspiration from Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond, Vol. 1 and 2. Brad Lancaster, the author, lives on an eighth of an acre in downtown Tucson, Arizona where rainfall is less than 12 inches (300 mm) per year. His volumes are impressively illustrated with easy-to-follow instructions for keeping rainwater on the land. Using these volumes, homeowners can learn to harvest water for wild birds, nurture home gardens, grow native plants, and control erosion on their property for aquifer and stream-flow recharge. Recognizing the value in Lancaster’s work, TBC purchased and donated five two-volume sets of these books for public use to libraries in Alpine, Fort Davis, Marfa, Presidio and Pecos, Texas.
The Hummingbird Wheel
The Hummingbird Wheel was developed to complement a program conducted by the Texas Nongame and Urban Program. Spinning the inner wheel to one of the illustrated species reveals a description of both male and female birds as well as the bird’s regional location. The sixteen hummingbirds featured are: Blue-throated Mountain Gem, Allen’s, Anna’s, Black-chinned, Broad-billed, Broad-tailed, Buff-bellied, Calliope, Costa’s, Green Violet-ear, Lucifer, Magnificent, Ruby-throated, Rufous, Violet-crowned, and White-eared. These are available for purchase in area gift shops and nature stores. For bulk wholesale purchases, please contact us through the contact form below.
Birds of the Trans-Pecos Checklist
In collaboration with our partners at West Texas Avian Research we helped produce the newly revised checklist that is distributed to local bird festival attendees, state and national parks and nature/visitor centers across the Trans-Pecos region. You may also download an electronic version by clicking on the image to the right.
