Megan Navarro
DRIPPING SPRINGS — The city of Dripping Springs’ commitment to ensure that the birds, wildlife and people thrive in the community was recognized once again after being recertified as a Bird City this year by Audubon Texas and the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD).
The community-focused certification program was created in 2018 to help Texans protect birds and their habitats where they live, work and recreate, according to Audubon. This also stems from research that shows that bird-friendly habitats increase property values, help control insects, generate tourism dollars and more.
Dripping Springs is one of the communities that was recertified as a Bird City in 2025, after it previously received the three-year-long designation in 2022. According to community events coordinator Johnna Krantz, the city and team behind the effort worked to improve from the initial certification to the recertification, increasing the outreach to the community, as one of the requirements for the designation is education and engagement.
Krantz explained that, at the time of the initial certification, the city was in the beginning stages of starting a kids nature camp in 2020, but the pandemic put a hold on that until the summer of 2021, when the parks department was able to offer a program mostly based at Dripping Springs Ranch Park (DSRP).
“That program has really, really grown in the last couple years. We've increased enrollment a lot. We have more guest speakers and also, the city recently was able to acquire two vans, so now, the kids can go on field trips, too, to other nature locations, like Pedernales or the Lady Bird Wildflower Center closer to Austin,” she said. “It's really like giving them a lot more opportunity to explore their community and nature, whereas we were pretty locked into just the trails at Ranch Park the first year that we went through that program.”
According to Bird City Network, to earn the designation cities must complete specific actions underneath three categories — habitat, threats to birds and education/engagement. They can also replace any action with one in the sustainability category.
The city has collaborated with several partners, including Destination Dripping Springs, Hays County Master Naturalists, Hays County Master Gardeners, Wild Birds Unlimited and the Dripping Springs Birding Club to use as resources to help guide the Bird City program and furthering daily bird conservation efforts.
Paul Fushille, member of the Dripping Springs Parks & Recreation Commission, Birding Club and local biologist, was instrumental in getting the certification off the ground initially.
“For part of the Citizen Science or Community Engagement requirement, I started a monthly bird count at each park to track species composition over time and to see if growth and development impacts what bird species utilize our parks. We've tweaked the survey over time, but essentially two birders — club members — count every bird they see over a two-hour span within the first two weeks of each month,” he said. “By doing this, we also put [Dripping Springs] on the map for birding hot spots on eBird, which is another aspect of getting [the city] noticed as a bird-watching community.”
Additionally, the club raised funds to cover most of the cost of the bird observation deck at DSRP — which Fushille designed with the help of his uncle’s blueprints and other volunteers — and fundraised to upgrade the various feeder options at DSRP and Charro Ranch Park.
He emphasized that a large component of Bird City is being able to share information with the public, so along with what the city does with its social media, the Dripping Springs Birding Club — with its more than 1,000 members — uses its platform to bring awareness to bird-friendly environments and issues contributing to declining avian populations.
“Everybody loves watching birds at their bird feeders and that's an easy access point to have outreach and education for people and get them involved in other nature programs. Maybe that's their first experience being in our parks, but then, maybe they find out more about other activities and other education opportunities within our parks programs,” Krantz added. “Birding is a tourism draw. People get to explore beautiful areas and see beautiful creatures and … getting outdoors is going to be good for your mental health; it’s going to be good for your physical health. So, that's another way that we're reaching people and improving our community.”
The certification is valid for three years, so, according to Krantz, the city and its partners will continue to work and improve in various areas that benefit the bird community.
Learn more about the Bird City designation, along with the Dripping Springs Birding Club at:
• TPWD: www.tpwd.texas.gov/wildlife/birding/bird-city-texas
• Bird City Network: www.birdcity.org/Texas
• Dripping Springs Birding Club: bit.ly/4oFYfGF
