09/10/2026
MEET US AT THE COAST!
Birding the coast is not just about shorebirds - we will be tracking down migrating songbirds as they pass through the woodlots, grasslands, and marshes.
Meet a Target Bird: Dickcissel!
What if a bird roost was also an information network?
Dickcissels spend the summer scattered across the grasslands of North America, but winter is a completely different story. In the Venezuelan llanos, they gather densely into enormous communal roosts that can number well into the millions.
And those roosts may help them find food.
Researchers have found that Dickcissels leave their roosts along different flightlines toward productive feeding areas. As those food sources change, the flightlines change too, and birds that were less successful learn from others at the roost where to find better places to feed.
Before heading north again, Dickcissels rely on this sharing of resources to fuel up. They can add roughly one-third to one-half of their body weight in preparation for spring migration!
That little Dickcissel passing through the Texas coast this fall is headed toward an impressive avian social network.
Expand your own birding social network and join us for a long weekend Birding the Coast next month! Details in comments.
MEET US AT THE COAST!
