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Vol 2, Birds of the Central Oaks and Prairies of Texas with Emphasis on Historical Changes by Bert Frenz.
Not since Oberholser’s monumental 1974 Birds of Texas has an author attempted to characterize the status and changes in Texas birdlife, focusing on the central Post Oak Savannah and Blackland Prairies. This book explores the various influences that have altered bird populations since Europeans settled in Texas in the mid-nineteenth century, delving into the complex causes behind these shifts. Some are well-known, such as the conversion to agriculture. Others may be surprising to readers, such as the effect of turf farms on migration.
While each of the other ecological regions of Texas has garnered a book updating what is known since Oberholser, this book is the first to treat the central prairies. Not only does it cover the current status of birds, but it provides details on breeding that exceed what was known from the Texas Breeding Bird Atlas Project some twenty years ago. Based on a vast database of over five million annotated reports, it provides detailed graphs of timing and abundance for each species, trending graphs and calculations based on regional breeding bird surveys and Christmas bird counts and compares these to similar surveys from Texas and North America. The ornithological story in the Oaks and Prairies Region serves as a microcosm of all of Texas.
The book deals with 545 species, including about 489 regularly occurring species and extinct, extirpated, escaped, and accidental birds. Heavily documented with sources and observer recognition, the book draws on a thorough examination of reports from eBird and tracing back through journals, newsletters, checklists, social media, and historical writings to the arrival of Europeans.
The book also includes highly readable anecdotal accounts of the fascinating events experienced by birders, including how a phalarope was captured while wading through a pond at Hornsby Bend, what became of the mystery Antillean nighthawk, when Cave Swallows invaded Central Texas, and how Mute Swans arrived on the Colorado River.
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