Gulf Coast Bird Observatory

09/04/2026

Volunteer at Xtreme Hummingbird Xtravaganza!
XHX, our annual hummingbird festival, is coming up on September 12 and 19, and we could use your help to make it happen!
If you want to spend your Saturday morning with us, please reach out and email [email protected] to sign up. We'd love to have you!

09/04/2026

Xtreme Hummingbird Xtravaganza is made possible by our generous event sponsors! Show them some love for supporting this fun festival!

09/03/2026

You have probably seen one of these beautiful birds, but what do you really know about them? Did you know that Broad-winged Hawks are forest interior hawks? Instead of seeing them on the side of the road, where we often seeing Red-tailed Hawks, they tend to be found in large deciduous or mixed forests away from human disturbances during the breeding season. Did you know that on average, Broad-winged Hawks travel around 69 miles per day during migration, totaling 4,350 miles to get to their wintering grounds in northern South America? And did you know that Broad-winged Hawk fossils have been found around the US and in Puerto Rico, some 400,000 years old?

If you find these hawks as amazing as we do, we hope you will join us at the Smith Point Hawk Watch sometime this season! The hawk tower is open daily 8am-4pm, and all are welcome. For more information, check out https://www.gcbo.org/avian-research-and-monitoring/smith-point-hawk-watch/ for more information to plan your visit, and hawkcount.org for the daily count record.

Photo by Wayne. N.

09/02/2026

September is for the birds! The hummingbirds, specifically, are flying through our area right now. Have you been seeing them?
Any hummingbird-lovers out there can join us on September 12 & 19 for our Xtreme Hummingbird Xtravaganza! here at GCBO headquarters in Lake Jackson. All the details can be found here: https://www.gcbo.org/connect/xtreme-hummingbird-xtravaganza/

09/01/2026

Resight alert - GCBO and partners recently banded Black Skimmer chicks at a colony in the Dow plant in Freeport, and our Education and Outreach Director had a great resight! While we were banding, Celeste was scanning the colony to look for birds we had previously banded. She found several, but this one was particularly special. This skimmer, banded J57, was banded as a chick at Dow in 2019! Given most of our banded skimmer chicks do not return to breed the following year, this was an important record for our long-term banding program.

Black Skimmers are thought to have fairly high site fidelity. Many chicks return to the colony where they were born the following year to breed. We saw one adult skimmer this year breeding on one of the the new Jones Bay oystercatcher islands that was previously banded in 2021 at Struve Luci, an island in West Galveston Bay not too far from Jones Bay. That island has largely been abandoned by the skimmers because of repeated disturbance, but the colony appears to have just moved about a mile away.

Huge thanks to Dow for allowing us access to the Freeport Black Skimmer Colony each year. And an extra special thank you to Audubon Texas and American Bird Conservancy staff who assisted with this year's banding effort, as well as our Dow es**rt Mike H.

All banding was conducted under a federally authorized Bird Banding Permit issued by the U.S. Geological Survey's BBL and a TPWD Scientific Research Permit. Photos taken by GCBO staff and approved for use by Dow Chemical.

08/31/2026

Have you been out to the Smith Point Hawk Watch yet? If not, you're missing some great birding opportunities! While the hawks are just now gearing up, many other birds are passing through. Wyatt, one of our awesome hawk counting volunteers, documented over 100 species today. Some highlights include Chuck-will's-widow, Upland Sandpiper, Wood Stork, Mourning Warbler, Painted Bunting, and 8 different flycatcher species! Thanks Wyatt for documenting your day out there.

Submitted by Wyatt Egelhoff.

08/29/2026

Have you met Archie? Archie is our mascot for Xtreme Hummingbird Xtravaganza! He is a Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) but he's a bit big for his species. He walks around XHX and says hi to all the kids (and adults!) who have come to celebrate hummingbirds.
If you want to meet Archie in person, come to XHX on September 12 and 19, here at GCBO. You can learn all the details here: https://www.gcbo.org/connect/xtreme-hummingbird-xtravaganza/

08/28/2026

🌙 Lights Out for Birds! During migration, artificial lights can confuse and disorient birds flying at night, causing them to collide with buildings or become exhausted. By turning off unnecessary lights, you can help give migrating birds a safer journey. Fall migration is from August 15th - November 30th.

📸: Common Nighthawk, Mike Williams

08/27/2026

What an awesome article in Texas Highways Magazine about our Xtreme Hummingbird Xtravaganza! We’re honored!

Flocks of hummingbirds traveling south will soon funnel through Texas—and you can hold one in the palm of your hand at the Xtreme Hummingbird Xtravaganza in Lake Jackson this fall.

The Gulf Coast Bird Observatory of Lake Jackson is dedicated to these birds and their associated nerds. Founded in 1997, the GCBO has been conducting research, teaching courses, organizing events, and fitting birds with uniquely numbered metal leg bands to collect data—all in service of protecting the birds and their habitats.

The organization’s headquarters is smack in the middle of coastal Texas, an important stopover for migrating hummingbirds to rest and feed before continuing on for thousands of miles. Every September during the peak of ruby-throated hummingbird migration, the GCBO invites guests to watch up close as volunteers band birds to raise awareness and funds for the organization’s work.

“The birds are cute. And they’re feisty,” says Jackie Hicks, GCBO volunteer of 12 years. “Just having that in your hand, feeling the heart rate, then seeing the thing fly off—it’s pretty cool.”

Learn more here: https://bit.ly/4gFpoYq

08/27/2026

Only a few more weeks until XHX on September 12 and 19!
Xtreme Hummingbird Xtravaganza is our annual celebration of the Ruby-throated Hummingbird migration! Join us to see hummingbirds up close, learn more about them, and enjoy tons of fun activities!

You can learn all the details and plan your visit here: https://www.gcbo.org/connect/xtreme-hummingbird-xtravaganza/