Drought challenges birds
Scientists and birdwatchers describe the effect of prolonged drought on Northern Bobwhite, overwintering waterfowl, owls and migratory birds, and resident species in Texas and neighboring states.
Published: December 22, 2011
 Northern Bobwhite
• Northern Bobwhite, which has been declining for several years across most of its range, had “virtually no hatch” in most of Texas in 2011, says Dale Rollins, director of the Rolling Plains Quail Research Center. In 2008, the center’s roadside counts tallied 96 bobwhites per 20-mile route; last year they counted 8.8.
• Waterfowl will have few lakes and reservoirs to utilize this winter in Texas. Teal, shovelers, and other ducks that breed on the Great Plains had a banner year in 2011 after record flooding, but more than half of the Lone Star State’s streams and rivers are at below-normal levels and at least seven reservoirs are essentially dry, meaning the birds will have to go elsewhere for the winter.
• Birders reported that owls and migratory species that are not normally seen in backyards utilized birdbaths and other water features in unusually high numbers.
• Many resident species had unsuccessful breeding seasons in 2011 because the insects and plants they rely on for food were not available. On the Edwards Plateau, for example, birdwatchers reported that few if any kingbirds, nighthawks, Scissor-tailed Flycatchers, and other common species nested.
• The drought also fueled the largest red tide on the Texas Gulf coast in a decade. The toxic algae bloom stretched southwest from Galveston and included areas near Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, winter home of the only wild flock of Whooping Cranes. The toxin can accumulate in foods that the endangered birds eat.
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