Texas Partners in Flight
General Information
Birding enthusiasts as well as professional ornithologists have recognized for years that there has been a decline in our migratory songbirds. As it turned out, they were entirely correct; but little was being done for our magnificent songbirds until 1990 when Partners in Flight was organized with the help of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
Partners in Flight (PIF) is an international cooperative effort to direct resources toward protecting neotropical migratory birds and their habitats. The program provides the framework for state and federal agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), birding enthusiasts, land owners and managers, researchers, educators, and many other "partners" in the conservation of Neotropical Migratory Birds (often abbreviated NTMBs).
Partners in Flight organizes the nation into regions with regional steering committees and working groups to establish plans, priorities and networks to conserve the birds in their area. Texas has several representatives on the PIF Southeastern Steering Committee as well as a representative on the international committee.
Texas Partners in Flight (TXPIF) is the local link to national and international initiatives. An incorporated non-profit organization, TXPIF is guided by a nine-member board with nine physiographic regional technical leaders throughout the state. The Texas network is growing and active in many ways. Already there are over 1,000 interested individuals on the mailing list who have been receiving the occasional newsletter, "Flyway". The TXPIF-sponsored workshops as well as reporting on land management, monitoring and educational projects for the conservation of neotropical migratory birds and educational projects for their conservation.
If you would like to help stop the decline of the Neotropical Migratory Birds that reed or pass through Texas, let us hear from you. You can make a difference with conservation efforts in your community and on your own property. Some assistance is also needed with research projects, avian surveys, literature searches, and in organizing the TXPIF network in the regions. If you would like more information, tell us about your special interests and talents, let us know if you are a landowner interested in habitat conservation and restoration, and if you want to be on the mailing list. The birds need your help.
Texas Partners in Flight Program
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
4200 Smith School Road
Austin, TX 78744
or send a message to: nature@tpwd.state.tx.us