Four Texas Cities Receive ‘Bird City’ Certification

The Texas Parks and Wildlife designation recognizes communities that have prioritized bird conservation and habitat.

By Jill AmentFebruary 17, 2020 2:01 pm

Bastrop, Port Aransas, Dallas and Houston are the first Texas cities recognized by Texas Parks and Wildlife for protecting birds and preserving their habitats. Last week, the state agency announced each city in the inaugural group is now a designated “Bird City.” The certification recognizes the communities for their work to preserve wild bird populations that call these parts of Texas home.

Richard Heilbrun is an urban wildlife program leader with Texas Parks and Wildlife. He oversees the new “Bird City Texas” certification.

Houston and Dallas might seem like surprising choices given their size and urban nature, but Heilbrun says they earned it by prioritizing wild bird protection.

“Those communities are doing a lot of things for bird conservation and wildlife in general,” he says. “They have committed resources in terms of people and programs. They organize people together to teach their residents about birds and bird management. And so they’ve brought the full force of all their resources to improve their community for birds.”

What you’ll hear in this segment:

– How these communities protected birds, even after major flooding

– Why Texas Parks and Wildlife created the Bird City designation

– How cities benefit from the new designation

 

Written by Shelly Brisbin.