Introducing a Few of the Locals

  When we saw them for the first time last year they took our breath away. This is the Green Jay...one of the Texas "specialties"..aka known as the Rio Grande Jay.  I could sit and watch these agile birds for hours as they search every part of a tree for food. How can you NOT be enthralled with this tropical looking bird?

Is it a turkey?  Is it a roadrunner? Can you say "cha cha la ca"?  That's what the call of this bird sounds like..and gives it its name: Chachalaca.  The Plain Chachalaca is the only member of the Cracidae (chicken-like) family of birds that made it out of the Tropics and into the U.S. Even though they appear secretive, once they begin calling you can often find them using their long tails and short wings to help them balance as they climb about in trees.  Their first name may be Plain...but we think they are plainly endearing and interesting,
too.

OK...if you're from the South, it's a "Redbird"..the rest of us  know it as a Cardinal.  This would probably be the first bird most of us could name by sight.....even as kids. With a huge seed cracking bill and brilliant plumage (this is a male, ya know..), they are attracted to feeders and will hang about in the shrubby edges of woodlands.  Being strongly territorial, the males have even been know to challenge their reflection in a shiny hubcap!!  I await
the first view of their distantly related desert cousin: the Pyrrhuloxia....

 Folks who come to Texas this time of year for a few months are know as "Winter Texans".  That could apply to this bird who migrates and sometimes overwinters along the Gulf Coast.  With a call like the meow of a cat and also an accomplished mimic...you would be in "the catbird's seat" if you can guess its name...

This stunning bird is named for its plumage color...the Latin aureolus means "golden".  Can you name it?  Yes...it's an Oriole.  But this once is another Texas specialty seen infrequently in the Rio Grande Valley.  The largest of all orioles found in the US, it is the Altamira Oriole.  You've probably seen an elongated pendulum nest built by an oriole, but the ones constructed by the Altamira are immense!!

All of these birds were found in the dense thicket of trees and shrubs along the walkways next to the Laguna Atascose visitor center.  Since I didn't have any takers on my bird walk this afternoon, I took myself for a walk...and these were my discoveries.....this is a great place for bird nerds like us....Perhaps we can turn you  into one too....