By Duc Nguyen

Hello, my name is Duc Nguyen. This is my first article for the Bayou Banner. I want to tell you something about me. I am from Vietnam and love the outdoors. My time in the United States has been very rewarding. I particularly enjoy seeing the parks and nature preserves near Houston. I love to take photographs when I go to a park. This is fun and fascinating because animals and plants have lives of their own. With a camera I can capture some of that liveliness.

The Attwater Prairie Chicken is a critically endangered subspecies of the Greater Prairie Chicken. The only place where you can see this bird roaming wild is at the Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge.

I heard that August is one of the best times to see this endangered bird, so I paid a visit to the Refuge, which is only about one hour’s drive from Downtown Houston. We left at 8 am. When we arrived, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who manages the Refuge, took us on a van tour around the Refuge.

After only five minutes, we saw a bird on the side of the road! As we drove closer, our driver confirmed that this was an Attwater Prairie Chicken. I readied my camera for a photo, but the bird quickly disappeared into the grass.

Fire ants and floods are major threats to the Attwater Prairie Chicken. The Prairie Chickens nest on the ground. Last year, Hurricane Harvey destroyed nests and killed many birds. Fire ants prey directly on the birds. The ants also eat native insects which are needed by young birds. In a survey done in Spring 2018, only 12 birds were counted.

Because the bird count is too low to be sustainable in the wild, the Refuge runs a captive breeding program to increase the number of Attwater Prairie Chickens. When female birds lay eggs at nursery facilities they are collected and incubated in 3 laboratories. The nearest laboratory is at the Houston Zoo. Eggs hatch after about 25 days and then the young birds are raised in protected pens for 6 weeks.

Once they are grown, the birds are moved to the Refuge. Here, to help them get familiar with their new environment, Attwater Prairie Chickens live in large protected pens for another week and are then released. This release process is repeated several times during the summer. Right after their release, the birds still have the habit of gathering near the pens to get food. Over time they move out into the prairie and feed themselves.

For those interested in seeing the Attwater Prairie Chicken in person, the Refuge hosts a guided tour on the First Saturday of each month. Beside Attwater Prairie Chickens, the Refuge is also one of the largest remaining coastal prairie landscapes. The Refuge is a great place to view migratory birds and wildflowers in the Spring.

For more details go to the Refuge website at: https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Attwater_Prairie_Chicken/Events.html

I hope the Attwater Prairie Chicken survives this hurricane season so that it can live and we can enjoy seeing it.

August 04, 2018
Duc Nguyen