The breeding bird community of a remnant urban woodland in McAllen, Texas

Authors

John S. Brush, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Alexis Racelis, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Timothy Brush, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2017

Abstract

We conducted a breeding bird survey of a remnant thorn-forest at McAllen Nature Center in 2015 and 2016 to assess the breeding bird community and compare it to that of a larger, exurban refuge. We recorded 37 territorial species in McAllen Nature Center, including 15 species not reported at the exurban tract. Thirteen of these predominantly used the more open, human -maintained habitats in the northern and western sides of the park. The presence of many common thorn-forest birds, including a subset of the regions “South Texas specialty” species, is encouraging. Small remnant woodlands such as McAllen Nature Center may prove vital to keep these species present as members of the urban avian community in the Lower Rio Grande Valley.

Comments

© 2011 The Texas Ornithological Society. Preserved in ScholarWorks.

Recommended Citation

Brush, John S., Alexis Racelis, and Timothy Brush. "The breeding bird community of a remnant urban woodland in McAllen, Texas." Texas Ornithological Society 85, no. 1 (2017): 8.

Publication Title

Texas Ornithological Society