Bird Watchers Enjoy Sun City Texas

By Ernesto Berturand


Millions of Americans have embraced the hobby of watching birds according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Most people choose to observe birds around their homes but many travel away from home to bird watch. There are many publicly accessible birding locations within a short drive of Sun City Texas, located in Georgetown. Texas boasts the highest number of species of all the states at 636 and Williamson County has over 400 species of birds. Many water birds such as great blue herons, varieties of egrets, wood ducks, and teals are attracted to the water retention ponds built around town to drain rainfall from parking lots.

Because Sun City Texas has many water features, creeks and natural areas that provide a great habitat for native and migratory birds, there are abundant opportunities to watch birds within the community. The Birding Special Interest Group is part of the Sun City Nature Club which promotes the enjoyment of birds, especially those native to central Texas. The Birding Club provides many reference materials such as books, DVDs, tapes and other materials that may be checked out from their library.

Wild birds are particularly abundant in Sun City Texas and club members get together for bird watching hikes, trips into the field and to check on homes for birds in native habitats. One can typically see the flocks of wild turkeys grazing in groups on the native grasses which thrive in the roughs of the golf courses. The bridge that crosses Berry Pond on Del Webb Boulevard is home to a sizable community of cave swallows which assemble their mud nests inside the cement spans under the bridge.

There's even a substantial number of turkey vultures that roost together in groups next to the banks of Berry Creek. They make gliding circles over the bridge and White Wing Golf Course. Known as the largest scavenger birds in the United States, the turkey vultures have established themselves here. Turkey vultures prefer open places which offer close by woods for nesting. This specific locale valued by the turkey vultures has numerous decayed, leafless trees which were victims of many years of drought and looks over the stream bed, an open field and a little further on, the golf course. Turkey vultures feed mainly on carrion such as squirrels and rabbits that often fall victim to vehicles in Sun City Texas.

Sun City Texas really is a bird watcher's heaven due to the plentiful wooded areas, water supply and food choices accessible to birds. For individuals that love to monitor the growth and progress of newly hatched birds, there are lots of residents who welcome nest construction by simply setting up bird houses, offering bird seeds, and blooming plant life to beckon them. Furthermore there's a wide range of hawk species attracted to the fields of natural vegetation, hummingbirds attracted to feeders in addition to vibrant flowers, and owls that track small vertebrates in the evening.

Numerous swift-footed road runners may be seen by fortunate Sun City Texas residents as they scurry across busy roads. Their habitat is shrubby country and they construct a nest on a base of branches placed low in a prickly pear or a shrub. They can be nearly two feet in length, about 50 % of that is tail length. These are especially beneficial wild birds which feed on reptiles such as snakes, small to medium sized rodents, spiders, scorpions and animals killed on roads. Several roadrunners may on occasion go after a comparatively sizeable snake by fighting it together.

Sun City Texas Birding Club wild bird hikes are organized two times during each month in order for participants to get out and easily share their own love of wild birds.




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