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Air Port Sanctuary location as seen from Utah Road property. Image by Lee Zieger

Tamaulipas Crow Sanctuary Update

Rio Grande Delta Audubon
Rio Grande Valley, Texas

E-Newsletter Vol.8 No.4
Chapter Meeting
Monday,August 7th

Our Speaker will be Paul Johnson, Regional Urban Forester with the Texas Forest Service

Birds Seeing Colors In A New"Light"

The Raven and Crow are closely related!
Image by Lee Zieger

Nature Websites
Gladys Porter Zoo
Sabal Palm Preserve
Frontera Audubon
Valley Nature Center
Los Ebanos Preserve
Laguna Atascosa NWLR
Santa Ana NWLR
SPI Nature Center
Birds of RGV
Bird Guiding
Mexico Bird Trip 4-05

About Us..
Rio Grande Delta Audubon is dedicated to conservation of our native habitat for the protection of birds, other wildlife, and for the enhancement and appreciation of our environment.

Officers & Board
Lee Zieger, President
Greg Vail, Vice President
Mary Jean Garcia, Secretary
Hugo & Magda Rodriguez, Treasurer
Dorothy Greaney
George Garcia
Margaret Etchinson

Privacy Policy
Your E-Mail Addrress is secure with us and not given or sold to any vendor.

Please unsubscribe me from the RGDA E-Newsletter!

Newsletter Editor:
Lee Zieger
956-831-4653

Contact Information:
Lee Zieger:
8801 Boca Chica Brownsville,Texas 878521
Office:(956)831-4653 or 1-866-279-1775
Fax: (956) 831-0147

Image by Lee Zieger

Come to the meeting and draw for an 8" X 10" photo of this butterfly

El Cielo Butterfly Festival, Nov. 1-5, 2006, Transportation, Lodging, Food Inclusive. Detail on line and register on line.

Event: Rio Grande Delta Audubon Chapter meeting.
Date: Monday, August 7th, 2006
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Place: Historic Brownsville Museum located at the old Southern Pacific Depot at 7th and East Madison Streets.
Admission: Free
The Rio Grande Delta Audubon Chapter meets at 6:30 p.m. on the the first Monday of each month at the Historic Brownsville Museum, 7th and East Madison.
2006 Dues are due. A PDF Dues Statement with catagories and instruction is here.
Our speaker this month will be Paul Johnson, Regional Urban Forester with the Texas Forest Service.Mr. Johnson will give a talk on "Foundation for Success" Proper tree selection and planting. Mr.Johnson has a Degree in Forestry from Oklahoma State University,and is an ISA (International Society of Arboriculture) Certified Arborist.
He has 7 years experience in commercial landscaping and tree care.Everything from mowing lawns to pruning trees to plant health care.He coordinated a Master Gardener program and wrote a weekly garden-related newspaper column.
He has presented over 200 classes, seminars, and workshops and worked 3 years as a garden-related radio talk show host. He was the Rio Grande Valley's first resident Regional Urban Forester.
This should prove to be an interesting meeting,so bring along a friend or two.

Tamaulipas Crow Sanctuary Proposal Update
As expected the Tamaulipas Crow has made it's summer departure. One pair and an individual were last seen July 3, 2006. This is normal according to the PHD Study by Dr. Kevin J. McGowan, Cornell University in his FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT CROWS. Go to the site to get an overall look at the behavior of the crow in mating, raising a family, nesting, migration, and lots more.
We will have an up date on the sanctuary.

Pledges accepted. PDF Pledge Form for printing with directions and options.

Come help us make a conservation impact on Brownsville to remember. Your comments and support are a necessary part of this project.
Watch our web site www.riograndedeltaaudubon.org for updates on this project.

Seeing Colors In A New "Light"

It isn't always true that what we don't see isn't there.

Birds do see in UltraViolet. While humans have receptors for three colors, birds have receptors for four or more.These colors peak at slightly different frequencies.
Birds don't see colors the way humans do.Many birds see UV and they undoubtedly see hues in a different way as well.The eyes of many birds also have oil droplets in them,and these oil droplets act to filter colors .
Many animals can see ultraviolet light. Bug zappers attract insects because the insects can see the ultraviolet light they give off and are attracted . Some flowers have different areas that reflect UV differently. Bees can see the difference but people cannot. This is like a pattern written in invisible (to people) ink. As a result, bees can follow the clues in that pattern to find nectar in the flowers.
Scientists are now looking for other ways in which UV is important to animals. Knowing that birds can see UV light, Bell Museum ornithologists Muir Eaton and Scott Lanyon (Director of the Bell Museum and Eaton's advisor) are looking to see how much various bird feathers reflect UV. Maybe there are important color patterns in bird plumage that the birds can see but we cannot. For all the time people have spent looking at birds, we've been unaware that birds see a much more colorful world than we do. Compared to birds, all humans are partially color blind. Eaton and Lanyon have found that there certainly are areas on many birds which reflect UV. It remains to be seen what the birds make of this, but it's a good guess that it's significant to them.
So seeing may be believing, it may also be humbling to realize that the world may not be as we imagine it should be,but we have to learn to look carefully if we are to understand other animals because they, with their different eyes, may be seeing things quite differently from us.

"Calendar of Events"

The 11th Annual Texas Butterfly Festival..... October19-22
220 E. 9th Street
Mission, TX 78572
Toll Free (800) 580-2700
Tel (956) 585-2727 Fax (956) 585-3044
For more info:http://www.texasbutterfly.com

The 13th Annual RGV Birding Festival.....November 8-12
For more information, contact the Harlingen Area Chamber of Commerce at 1-800-531-7346.
Visit http://www.rgvbirdfest.com for more information