Chris Monk
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Birds likely to be pushed from normal route by Rita
By DINA CAPPIELLO
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
For birds, it's the worst time of year for a hurricane
Rita will make landfall at the peak of fall migration, when hundreds of thousands of birds are passing through the state or seeking refuge here for the winter, state wildlife officials and experts said.
Corpus Christi, for the first time in a decade, has canceled its annual Celebration of Flight this weekend, a festival honoring the half-million raptors expected to converge on the coastal city this weekend.
Shorebirds have begun to nestle into Texas marshes for the winter, and hummingbirds are in the middle of flitting to Central America.
The storm, however, was expected to make a greater dent in birding tourism dollars than bird populations, experts said.
"Birds are equipped with methods ... to detect barometric pressure," Cliff Shackelford, an ornithologist with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, said. "A lot of birds will adjust their path and timing."
Joel Simon, the HawkWatch coordinator for Corpus Christi, said the arrival of hawks could be delayed by the storm, and some hawks could be pushed permanently westward. About 74 percent of all raptors that pass through Texas make the journey during the last eight days of September.
Peggy Holt of the Aransas Bird and Nature Club in Rockport remained concerned about what Rita would do to habitat, saying high wind and water could destroy the marshes.
dina.cappiello AT chron.com
By DINA CAPPIELLO
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
For birds, it's the worst time of year for a hurricane
Rita will make landfall at the peak of fall migration, when hundreds of thousands of birds are passing through the state or seeking refuge here for the winter, state wildlife officials and experts said.
Corpus Christi, for the first time in a decade, has canceled its annual Celebration of Flight this weekend, a festival honoring the half-million raptors expected to converge on the coastal city this weekend.
Shorebirds have begun to nestle into Texas marshes for the winter, and hummingbirds are in the middle of flitting to Central America.
The storm, however, was expected to make a greater dent in birding tourism dollars than bird populations, experts said.
"Birds are equipped with methods ... to detect barometric pressure," Cliff Shackelford, an ornithologist with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, said. "A lot of birds will adjust their path and timing."
Joel Simon, the HawkWatch coordinator for Corpus Christi, said the arrival of hawks could be delayed by the storm, and some hawks could be pushed permanently westward. About 74 percent of all raptors that pass through Texas make the journey during the last eight days of September.
Peggy Holt of the Aransas Bird and Nature Club in Rockport remained concerned about what Rita would do to habitat, saying high wind and water could destroy the marshes.
dina.cappiello AT chron.com
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