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Why West Texas is a popular place for birds to migrate to during the Spring

According to nature experts, many birds are making this area home for a variety of reasons during Spring migration

TEXAS, USA — Birds, birds and more birds. You may be seeing them flying around as it gets warmer outside because they are migrating back here for the Spring.

Michael Nickel at the Sibley Nature Center, said, "we just getting through the spring migration, so now we're gonna be having our summer resident bird these are birds that are going to be doing their nesting here."

Species are coming from all over the world.

"We got birds from South America coming up, for example, we have some species of humming birds that will migrate up from Mexico that will breed here. We get Mississippi kite later in the summer which will come up from South America to breed here," says Nickel. 

"We'll get an influence of birds not only from the Great Plains but also from the Rocky Mountains from East Texas the desert of the Southwest and all the way up through Mexico."

But why is West Texas such a great place for them to reside during the warm months. 

Nickel says, "it's right in the middle of the central bird migration fly away. This is one of the richest areas of Texas to find migrating birds."

"We also have a feature here they call playa lakes. They're usually dry but when they hold water they have life abundant it's a rich food and water source for migrating birds this is a fantastic place to be for bird migration," he went on to say.

With these animals receiving the nutrients they need, it's understandable why the Permian Basin is a hotspot for birds to make their temporary home.

"There's a lot of birds you'd find here simply because of geographic location and the presence of these playa lakes," says Nickel.

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