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The American Birding Association recommends that birders use a standard FRS (Family Radio Service) channel. This kind of common communication is often essential when trying to re-find a roving rarity. The ABA recommends channel 11 subcode 22 for birding communications. Many of the modern FRS radios have built-in GPS and can transmit location information to other capable receivers. For more information, see Using Radios for Birding by Paul Baicich on the Bird Watcher's Digest web site.

To report a Texas rare bird sighting, please email staff@narba.org

*Texas Review Species - please send reports to Mark Lockwood, Texas Bird Records.

Pelagic Birding Trip -- September 6
Eric Carpenter has planned pelagic birding trips aboard the Osprey. The trips leave from the southern tip of South Padre. The next trip will be on September 6. More Information.

Updated Lower Rio Grande Valley: JABIRU* -- first report: Aug 21
On the evening of Aug 20 Ruth Hoyt and Rafa Flores observed and photographed a JABIRU* which Rafa had first found last week outside Raymondville in Willacy Co. Ruth reported: "We saw the bird outside Raymondville, on the south side of Highway 490, 1/2 mile west of FM1425. It was very large and easy to spot from the car and from a fair distance. It stood in a flooded sorghum field, feeding on frogs. It appears to be a first or second basic adult, with black head, neck and bill, with a red patch at the base of the neck. There are light-colored feathers on the crown and nape of the neck. The body feathers are white, but feathers on the neck and upper wings are a brownish color. The road is a two-lane road with no shoulder and conditions off the road are wet and muddy from the recent rains." (Photos and updated notes). At 7:20am on Aug 21 the Jabiru was refound off FM1425 just north of Hwy 490 (just north of a levee on a grassy field to the right). This is about 1 mile north of the Aug 20 sighting. At 10:30am it had moved back to Hwy 490 west of FM1425 about 0.25 miles. At 11:00am the bird was between County Road 100 and County Road 105, which are both west of FM 1425, and on the south side of Hwy 490 behind the only house there. At 7pm the Jabiru was at the junction of Hwy 490 and FM1425. In general, best advice to find the bird is to work all the roads in the area. Please remember that the Jabiru is always on private property.

Updated Coastal Bend: possible LESSER/GREAT FRIGATEBIRD*, BROWN BOOBY* -- first report: Aug 19; last update: Aug. 21
On Aug 19 Martin Reid photographed a female frigatebird with a pink bill, possibly a LESSER/GREAT FRIGATEBIRD* at the Quintana Jetty. Photos and notes of frigatebird. Martin reported: "The bird was in a loose aggregation of 12 - 15 frigatebirds that were working the mouth of the jetty, harassing the many feeding terns there. I first saw the bird from the tip of the Quintana Jetty at about 11:15am, and it was present for at least 90 minutes, mostly a bit distant but occasionally coming quite close - as were other frigates. I looked for it again in the afternoon, but there were only 7 frigates there - none of them the target bird. I think that there is a quite decent chance that this bird is working that section of the coast, and may regularly visit the jetties mouth area - I got the impression that there was a steady turnover of birds, as new individuals arrived, spent an hour or so there, then drifted off parallel to the coast. The pink bill is quite visible even at a distance." He also said that he leans towards a LESSER FRIGATEBIRD identification.
(Archived report of earlier Texas Lesser/Great Frigatebird sighting).
Martin also observed an immature BROWN BOOBY riding into port on the shrimp boat Nicholas at about 1:05 pm on the same day. Photos and notes.

Coastal Bend: LESSER/GREAT FRIGATEBIRD* --
first report: Aug 5; last update: Aug 6
On the afternoon of Aug 5 around 2:00pm Brush Freeman saw a juvenile Frigatebird with about 16-18 others over the channel in West Matagorda Bay from the bay front in Port O'Connor. The bird was at a distance but clearly showed a brownish head, indicating a non-Magnificent Frigatebird. Brush reported: "While I am not familiar with any species of frigatebird at all other than MAFR, this critter looks to be either Great or Lesser, I have ruled out another species just based on range. And if a gun was held my head and I had to choose I would go Lesser only because the white on the under-parts seemed limited, even from this distance, to the breast or upper breast. I Google earthed this up and the distance between I and it was .62-1.1 mi. Quite within the range of a good scope here. This bird may hang around, in fact it may have been here for a while as in the afternoons there are always a few frigates around." On Aug 6 the bird did not make an appearance; Brush now leans towards the Great Frigatebird identification.
Location: (posted by Brush Freeman): pull up Google Earth, go to Port O'Connor Texas, look for a house on the front beach labeled Walker house. With your Google measuring tool, just drag a line out from there straight into the bay 1.1 mi. and you have a rough idea as to where these birds most usually are to be found. This bird may hang around, in fact it may have been here for a while as in the afternoons there are always a few frigates around.

Lower Rio Grande Valley: ROSE-THROATED BECARD* --
first report: Aug 14
On the evening of Aug 13 a female or immature ROSE-THROATED BECARD* was seen in the thicket at Frontera Audubon Society, but it was not relocated on Aug 14. Frontera Audubon Thicket is #58 on the Lower Texas Coast Wildlife Trail.

Lower Rio Grande Valley: YELLOW-GREEN VIREO --
last update: Aug 15
On Aug 10 Lynn Barber found a YELLOW-GREEN VIREO at Sabal Palm Audubon Center. The vireo was heard and seen along the boardwalk. Sabal Palm has been a reliable location for Yellow-green Vireo this summer. Lynn was not able to find the vireo which was present earlier this summer in the Brownsville Boca Chica neighborhood.

On Aug 15 Mary Gufstafson found a singing YELLOW-GREEN VIREO near Progreso Lakes while she was conducting point counts at during point counts on Lower Rio Grande Valley NWR tracts in Hidalgo County. She was also surpised to find a singing Alder Flycatcher in the same area.

Taylor County: AMERICAN WOODCOCK -- first report: Aug 13
On Aug 11 an AMERICAN WOODCOCK appeared on a sidewalk in the Buffalo Gap area of West Texas. Jay Capra was able to get photographs. See the link for the full story.

Guadalupe Mountains: OLIVE WARBLER -- first report: Aug 11
On Aug 9 Brian Gibbons found and photographed an OLIVE WARBLER in Guadalupe Mountains National Park. The warbler was on the Bowl Trail, about 300 meters before the junction with Juniper Trail.

Lower Rio Grande Valley: APLOMADO FALCON --
first report: Aug 6; last update: Aug 19
On Aug 5 at about 7pm Stacy Sanchez observed two APLOMADO FALCONS at Laguna Atascosa NWR. Stacy was almost to the T at FM106 (General Brant Road) and Buena Vista Road. Other staff members have also reported seeing them there. Laguna Atascosa is now open in certain areas; hours are from 7am to 4pm. The two birds have continued through Aug 19. One has a very bleached breast; the other has a bright rufous breast.

Fort Worth: WOOD STORK -- first report: Aug 18
On Aug 17 Barbara Tompkins observed two WOOD STORKS at River Legacy Park in Arlington, near Fort Worth.

Bolivar Peninsula: LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL -- first report: Aug 17
On Aug 17 Cin-ty Lee and Bill Saulmon found a fresh adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL at Bolivar Flats Shorebird Sanctuary.

Fayette Co: LEAST GREBE -- first report: Aug 19
On Aug 11 Darrell Vollert and Martha Seyfert confirmed that LEAST GREBES were nesting on a pond on private land in Round Top. The birds have been present since at least June 23. Brush Freeman reported that the sighting is a second record for Fayette Co. and a first breeding record for the county. (Photos)

Austin: LEAST GREBE --
first report: July 9; last update: Aug 18
On July 5 Vincent O'Brien found a LEAST GREBE with 3 juveniles in Austin on a small pond on the southwest side of the Triangle Apartment complex and shopping center, at 4600 Guadalupe, Austin. The birds have continued through August with various numbers counted (generally 10 birds) and multiple broods. On Aug 18 a new nest was found which can be easily viewed from the walkway.

Houston: LEAST GREBE -- first report: Aug 16
On the morning of Aug 16 Drew Deckert found an adult LEAST GREBE in Bear Creek Park in west Houston. The grebe was on a golf course pond just west of Bear Creek Drive at the entrance off Clay Road. This represents a new park record. (Map of Bear Creek Park)

Lower Rio Grande Valley - Salineno: RED-BILLED PIGEON, MUSCOVY DUCK
Watch for RED-BILLED PIGEONS and MUSCOVY DUCKS early or late in the day. Your odds can be improved by walking downstream to look for them near the river island. Both species were very easy to spot on May 9-10. Map. Salineno is #80 on the Lower Texas Coast Wildlife Trail.

Lower Rio Grande Valley: FERRUGINOUS PYGMY-OWLS --
FERRUGINOUS PYGMY-OWLS ;may be seen at the San Miguelito Ranch about 10 miles north of Raymondville. These birds are reportedly very visible near their nest site at the ranch. There is a fee to access this site. Prior arrangements are required, contact Leticia Tijerina, at 956-369-3118. They are also present on the King Ranch and El Canelo (both fee sites).

Lower Rio Grande Valley: MANGROVE (YELLOW) WARBLER --
MANGROVE WARBLERS, a well-marked subspecies or unrecognized species, are present year-round. For more information on seeing them, contact Scarlet Colley (telephone: 956-299-1957) at the South Padre Island Nature Center.

Lower Rio Grande Valley: RED-CROWNED PARROTS, GREEN PARAKEETS
Both species can be seen or heard in many valley cities, especially early and late in the day. In McAllen, Green Parakeets stage on 10th Street between Violet and Dove. Recently Red-crowned Parrots have been in Weslaco near Valley Nature Center, at Texas and 5th, and 11th and Indiana. In Harlingen, try Pendleton Park at the intersection of Grimes and Morgan. Fort Brown in Brownsville has both species, and they have been on Cowan Terrace recently as well north of Rt. 4 near the airport. Frontera Audubon Sanctuary and Valley Nature Center in Weslaco are good places for both species.