AUSTIN, Texas – This week saw big changes in the 2024 presidential race with President Joe Biden dropping out and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris, as well as the continued impact on the Houston area from Hurricane Beryl.

FOX 7 Austin’s Chief Political Reporter Rudy Koski and our panel of analysts take a look at This Week in Texas Politics.

RUDY KOSKI:  This week in Texas politics, got presidential and also kind of got into the dirt, literally. Let’s get the headlines from our panel and we’ll start first with Brad Johnson with the Texan News. Brad, what’s your headline for the week? 

BRAD JOHNSON/ TEXAN NEWS: How many more game changing events are on the horizon? 

RUDY KOSKI: Annie Spielman with MainStreet Relations. What’s your headline? 

ANNIE SPILEMAN/ MAINSTREET RELATIONS: Austin’s DECA announces historic $1 million small business loan fund. 

RUDY KOSKI: Patrick Svitek with the Washington Post. What’s your headline? 

PATRICK SVITEK/ WASHINGTON POST: Democrats have a likely new presidential nominee.

RUDY KOSKI: Top officials with CenterPoint went before the PUC Thursday and issued an apology. More hearings are promised. So do you think that this crisis remains an issue when the session starts? 

ANNIE SPILEMAN/ MAINSTREET RELATIONS: I want to note two things here. You know, I don’t just think that the power companies will be front and center at the chopping block. We’re going to see leaders bring in the property and casualty insurance companies, front and center as well. Secondarily, I want to mention in 2021, the business community worked with the Texas Legislature to create a program that would create a temporary emergency loan program for small business owners. But the problem is, is that program was never funded.

RUDY KOSKI: A statehouse hearing was held this week on how to prevent hostile nations from buying Texas land. Brad, this was supposed to be more of a reboot of legislation that failed to pass in the past session. Then all of a sudden, it kind of morphed into a much broader issue on cyberattacks. 

BRAD JOHNSON/ TEXAN NEWS: These issues all meld into one. It starts with the land purchases. It’s not surprising at all that it’s going to take that route. The biggest thing for me, though, is it’s this question of, on the land front, competing interests between national security and private property rights, the ability to sell your property to whom you want for how much you want. How do you find that balance? I really don’t know. That’s going to be a tough task for lawmakers. 

RUDY KOSKI: Vice President Harris brought her presidential campaign to Texas, speaking to a teacher union group there in Houston. But just before [her] going on and speaking, on Capitol Hill, House members passed a resolution condemning her work dealing with legal immigration. Regardless of how you know, you want to describe it, was she a border czar or not? And Patrick, even a few Democrats voted for that resolution, Henry Cuellar among them. 

PATRICK SVITEK/ WASHINGTON POST:  No, I wasn’t surprised to see some Democratic crossover support for that resolution. That issue is no doubt going to be one of Kamala Harris’s biggest political liabilities as she takes over the Democratic presidential ticket.

RUDY KOSKI: Earlier in the week, Texas Democrats, who are delegates to the party’s convention, that’s going to happen, later on in August, up in Chicago, jumped on the Harris bandwagon. And was it what does the business community want to hear when the DNC starts up? 

ANNIE SPILEMAN/ MAINSTREET RELATIONS: You know, business owners want to hear if anything has or will change in regard to her talking points from 2020, when she ran for president and during her time in the Senate in regard to economic politics. Will she be Biden 2.0 or make her way economically? 

RUDY KOSKI: Brad, Texas Democrats think that maybe, just maybe, all this energy that Harris is generating could help them flip some statehouse seats and be a defense against school choice. What are you hearing? 

BRAD JOHNSON/ TEXAN NEWS: I heard Republicans say yesterday, they think it’s possible they lose three seats in the House. That’ll be a problem for Republicans on the school choice front. Probably not the death knell, but it would be a difficulty.  Also, that would significantly impact the Speaker’s race. 

RUDY KOSKI: As for school choice, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick accused House Speaker Dade Phelan of not listing that topic as a top priority in a budget document leading up to the session. Feeling on Friday swung back, claiming there are hearings on education, have already begun. Annie, clearly, what we’re seeing, there’s not going to be a cooldown in August regarding this issue, right? 

ANNIE SPILEMAN/ MAINSTREET RELATIONS: This is all kind of new territory. And I think this goes to show that when we go into next session, you know, it’s going to be really hard for, for groups to be trying to move their legislation forward. 

RUDY KOSKI: Now, a congressional seat is up for grabs. One that was held by, Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, who recently passed away. Former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner is among the names being tossed around right now as a possible successor. Patrick, what are you hearing up on Capitol Hill as who’s going to throw their hat in the ring on this one? 

PATRICK SVITEK/ WASHINGTON POST: What’s fascinating here is it’s going to be, you know, the way that this election is going to be handled is is rather unique. We’ve seen it happen before in Texas, but it doesn’t happen all the time. But what’s going to happen is that the Democratic Party Precinct Chairs in Harris County are going to meet, likely in mid August, and select a replacement nominee. The governor does have the power to call a special election. But why give  the Democrats won more seats that they currently now don’t have.

RUDY KOSKI: You can catch our longer discussion on the Fox7 YouTube page, but let’s wrap things up right now with one word, and we’ll start with Annie. What’s your one word for the week?

ANNIE SPILEMAN/ MAINSTREET RELATIONS: Deluge? 

PATRICK SVITEK/ WASHINGTON POST: Kamala.

BRAD JOHNSON/ TEXAN NEWS: Patrick stole mine. I was gonna say Kamala, too. I’ll go with Feuding. 

RUDY KOSKI: And that is This Week in Texas Politics. 

Not sure who to root for in the 2024 Paris Olympics? This kinda exhaustive list will give you an idea if you’re looking for some athletes with ties to Austin. These participants either made Austin their home, grew up around Austin, or attended the University of Texas or Texas State. Some are favorites for medals, others have good stories.

Basketball

Yvonne Anderson — Serbia — Texas Longhorn 2008-2012

The Austin basketball entries will take you back at least a decade. Anderson played for Texas basketball during former President Barack Obama’s first term. A professional in Europe since 2013 she debuted for the Serbian team in 2020 and played with them in Tokyo. Her father, Mike Anderson, has served as the head men’s coach at the University of Arkansas, the University of Missouri, and, most recently, at St. John’s University.

Kevin Durant — USA — Texas Longhorn 2006-2007

Durant will play in his fourth Olympics for Team USA in basketball. He has three gold medals and was the MVP of the Tokyo Games basketball tournament. The 35-year-old is one of the most decorated NBA players, with two championships, a league MVP, two Finals MVP awards, and more. He spent one year on the UT Austin campus before becoming the second pick in the NBA Draft. Durant is originally from Suitland, Maryland. Durant now plays for the Phoenix Suns.

Royal Ivey — Coach, South Sudan Men’s Basketball — Texas Longhorn 2000-2004

Former Texas Men’s Basketball guard Royal Ivey will serve as head coach for South Sudan in the country’s first Olympic basketball tournament. After the games, he’ll return to Texas as an assistant coach for the Houston Rockets.

Golf

Sara Kouskova — Czech Republic — Texas Longhorn 2018-2022

Kouskova won the 2015 Austrian International Ladies Amateur Championship as a teen. She came to Texas where she was All-Big-12-Conference twice. She later became the first amateur Czech golfer to win a professional tournament. Kouskova competes on the Ladies European Tour (LET) and has been on the Czech national team since 2013.

Scottie Scheffler — USA — Texas Longhorn 2014-2018

Scheffler is the top-ranked pro golfer in the world and will compete for Team USA in golf. He won his second Masters Tournament in April. Scheffler went to UT where he helped the golf team win three Big 12 titles. He grew up in Dallas, where he now lives.

Rowing

Kaitlin Knifton — USA — McCallum High School, Texas Longhorn 2019-2023 — Women’s 4

Kaitlin Knifton is a McCallum High School graduate and will compete for Team USA. She won two national titles at the University of Texas. She danced in high school. Her dad, Matt, owns the Texas Rowing Center right off the hike and bike trail trail on Lady Bird Lake. She now trains in Princeton, N.J.

Kara Kohler — USA — Austin resident — Women’s Single Scull

Kara Kohler will compete for Team USA in rowing. Originally from Clayton, California, the 33-year-old rowed in college at the University of California, Berkeley. Kohler now lives and trains in Austin.

Daisy Mazzio-Manson — USA — Texas Longhorn 2020-2021 — Women’s 4

Mazzio-Manson is a Yale grad. She transferred to Texas and helped win a national title in her last year of eligibility. She carries on a legacy. Her mother rowed for the U.S. in Barcelona in 1992.

Sophia Vitas — USA — Austin resident — Women’s Double Sculls

Vitas is from Franklin, Wisconsin. She was on four prior U.S. national teams, though this is her first Olympic squad. She attended the University of Wisconsin, but now calls Austin home.

Soccer

Julia Grosso — Canada — Texas Longhorn 2018-2021

Gold medalist Grosso cemented herself in Canadian Olympic history at the Tokyo games, nailing the decisive goal in the penalty shootout to earn Canada the title. She went on to play the last three seasons for the legendary Italian club Juventus. The Vancouver native will return to North America after the games to finish the NWSL season with the Chicago Red Stars.

Swimming and Diving

Angie Coe — Taiwan — Texas Longhorn 2023 to present — 200m individual medley (IM)

Angie Coe (200 IM) will compete for Taiwan. She just wrapped up her freshman year on the 40 Acres where she helped the team win a Big 12 championship. Her sister swims at West Point.

Caspar Corbeau — The Netherlands — Texas Longhorn 2019-2023 — 100m and 200m breaststroke

Caspar Corbeau will represent The Netherlands in his second Olympic games. He won a team NCAA title in 2021 and two national relay championships in 2021 and 2022. He earned a spot on the Netherlands squad in Tokyo in the same events.

Anna Elendt — Germany — Texas Longhorn 2020-2024 — 100m breaststroke, 4×100 medley relay

Anna Elendt will return to her second Olympics competing for Germany. Born and raised in the greater Frankfurt area, Elendt made Austin her college home. While at Texas she set school records in the breaststroke and was an All-American.

Carson Foster — USA — Texas Longhorn 2020-2024 — 200m IM, 400m IM

Foster was an All-American swimmer at the University of Texas. He helped Team USA win a world championship in the 800m relay in 2022. Foster is from Cincinnati, Ohio.

Erin Gemmell — USA — Texas Longhorn 2023 to present — 200m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle relay

Gemmell just finished her freshman year at the University of Texas where she won a Big 12 conference title and All-American recognition. Gemmell is from Potomac, Maryland.

Alison Gibson — USA — Austinite, Texas Longhorn 2016-2020 — 3m springboard

Alison Gibson competed in synchronized diving for Team USA in the Tokyo Olympics, finishing 8th in the 3m event. The 25-year-old grew up in Austin and attended UT where she won an individual NCAA diving title and was an All-American.

Luke Hobson — USA — Texas Longhorn 2021 to present — 200m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle relay

Hobson holds the U.S. record for the 200m freestyle. He won the Olympic trials in that event. He is originally from Reno, Nevada, and just finished his junior year at UT Austin where he’s won five NCAA Championships in 200m freestyle, 500m freestyle, and 800m freestyle relay.

David Johnston — USA — Texas Longhorn 2020-2024 — 1500m free, open water 10K

Johnston will compete for Team USA in swimming. Johnston was part of UT Austin’s 2021 NCAA National Championship Team. He is originally from Dallas.

Drew Kibler — USA — Texas Longhorn 2018-2022 — 4x200m freestyle relay

Kibler will compete again for Team USA in freestyle swimming. He swam in the relays at the Tokyo Olympics. Kibler won a national team championship, as well as multiple individual titles while swimming at UT Austin. He is from Carmel, Indiana, originally, but now lives in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Hubert Kos — Hungary — Texas Longhorn 2024 to present — 200m backstroke, 100m butterfly, 100m backstroke

Kos won the 200m backstroke at last year’s World Championships. This will be his second Olympic games for Hungary. The new transfer to Texas will join his coach Bob Bowman from Arizona State.

Aaron Shackell — USA — Texas Longhorn 2024 to present — 400m freestyle

Future Austinite Aaron Shackell will compete for Team USA in swimming. Shackell is from Carmel, Indiana, and began his freshman year attending the University of California, Berkeley before leaving school to concentrate on the games. He is transferring to UT Austin after the Olympics. His 17-year-old sister also made the Olympic swim team. Their father swam for Great Britain in the Atlanta Olympics in 1996.

Bob Bowman — Assistant Coach, France — Texas Longhorn head men’s swimming and diving coach

A big 2024 for Bowman continues. He won his first NCAA Men’s Championship at Arizona State University, then was named to replace the legendary Eddie Reese as the Longhorns head coach. He coached Michael Phelps to 23 Olympic gold medals.

Carol Capitani, Assistant Coach, USA — Texas Longhorn head women’s swimming and diving coach

Capitani just finished her 12th year in Austin coaching the Texas swimming program. She led Team USA women at the 2023 World Championships. She is a 10-time winner of Big 12 Coach of the Year honors.

Matt Scoggin, Assistant Coach, USA — Texas Longhorn diver 1981-1985, coach 1994 to present

Matt Scoggin returns to his sixth Olympic games — his fifth as diving coach. After retiring from elite competition after the 1992 Barcelona games, Scoggin took the job as men’s and women’s diving coach at UT and has never looked back. Scoggin’s divers have won more than 20 individual NCAA titles and over 40 individual conference titles.

Tennis

Lulu Sun — New Zealand — Texas Longhorn 2020-2021 — Women’s Doubles

Lulu Sun helped Texas win a NCAA Championship in her one year of collegiate competition. In June at Wimbledon, she became the first New Zealander to reach the quarterfinal of a major tournament in 35 years. She was born in New Zealand to Croatian and Chinese parents, and raised in Switzerland. With many national eligibility options to choose from, she will compete for New Zealand. She is currently ranked 55th on the Women’s Tennis Association tour.

Track and Field

Mariam Abdul-Rashid — Canada — Texas Longhorn 2015-2019 — 100m hurdles

Abdul-Rashad will make her Olympic debut in Paris. She won the Canadian championship in the 100m hurdles. While at Texas, she was a second-team All-American.

Rhasidat Adeleke — Ireland — Texas Longhorn 2020-2023 — 400m, mixed 4x400m relay

Adeleke was an NCAA champion in the 400m and an All-American for Texas. She is the first Irish woman to finish the 400m in under 50 seconds. She was born in Dublin and holds seven individual Irish records.

Julien Alfred — Saint Lucia — Texas Longhorn 2018-2023 — 100m, 200m

During her time at UT Austin, Alfred became the fastest collegian ever in the 60m indoor race. She was a two-time indoor and two-time outdoor NCAA champion. She won the 60m gold at the World Indoor Championships in March. She finished just out of the medals at the World Outdoor Championships last year in the 100m and 200m.

Valarie Allman — USA — Austinite — Discus

Allman is the reigning gold medalist in the discus from the Tokyo Olympics. She earned a silver at last summer’s World Championships. The 29-year-old was an All-American at Stanford before moving to Austin to train and volunteer as a coach at UT Austin.

Emelia Chatfield — Haiti — Texas Longhorn 2020-2024 — 100m hurdles

She just finished her last year at Texas where she was a second-team All-American and won indoor and outdoor conference championships in the hurdles.

Ryan Crouser — USA — Texas Longhorn 2014-2016 — Shot Put

Crouser will compete for Team USA in track and field. He is the reigning Olympic, World Indoor and Outdoor champion in the shot put. The 31-year-old won the Olympic golds in 2016 (Rio De Janeiro) and 2020 (Tokyo). Crouser is from Boring, Oregon, and now lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Tara Davis-Woodhall — USA — Texas Longhorn 2018-2021— Long Jump

Davis-Woodhall is returning to the Olympics for Team USA in track and field. She placed sixth in the long jump in Tokyo. Davis-Woodhall is from Agoura Hills, California. While competing for the University of Texas in 2021, she broke a 36-year-old NCAA long jump record that still stands (7.14 m or 23 ft. 5.1 in.). Davis-Woodhall is married to Paralympian Hunter Woodhall.

Fred Kerley — USA — Taylor High School — 100m, 4x100m relay

Kerley will return to compete for Team USA in track and field. He won a silver medal in the 100m dash in Tokyo. He won the 2022 World Championship at that distance. The 29-year-old will run in the 100m and 4x100m relay in Paris. Kerley attended Taylor High School, before going on to South Plains College in Lubbock. He later transferred to Texas A&M where he would set the NCAA record in the 400m in 2017. He now lives in Miami.

Anicka Newell — Canada — Texas State 2012-2015 — Pole Vault

Anicka Newell returns to her third Olympic games for Canada. She won two conference championships while at Texas State. Rio was her first international competition. She made the finals in Tokyo and is looking to improve her results in Paris. She’ll be the second woman from Texas State to compete at three Olympic games. Brigitte Foster-Hylton competed for Jamaica in 2000, 2004, and 2008.

Leo Neugebauer — Germany — Texas Longhorn 2019-2024 — Decathlon

Leo Neugebauer was a force while at Texas. He broke his own collegiate and German national record while winning his second NCAA decathlon championship last month. The total (8,961 points) was the sixth-best all-time in any decathlon competition. He was also the 2024 USTFCCCA National Field Athlete of the Year.

Ackelia Smith — Jamaica — Texas Longhorn 2021 to present — long jump, triple jump

Smith has won back-to-back NCAA long jump titles at Texas. She won the NCAA outdoor triple jump last month, as well. After competing for her native Jamaica, she’ll return to UT for her senior year.

Lanae-Tava Thomas — Jamaica — Texas Longhorn 2022-2023 — 200m

Thomas was a first-team All-American in the 200m at Texas as a graduate student. She transferred from the University of Southern California.

Stacey-Ann Williams — Jamaica — Texas Longhorn 2019-2022 — 400m, 4x400m relay

Williams won a bronze medal in Tokyo in the 4x400m mixed relay. She returns to the Olympics to represent Jamaica for a second time. While at Texas she was an All-American and won five Big 12 individual championships.

Gabby Thomas — USA — Austinite — 200m

Thomas won a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics in the 200m. She also won a silver medal there in the 4x100m relay. Thomas is from Northampton, Massachusetts. She graduated from Harvard and turned pro. She moved to Austin to be coached by former-Olympian Tonja Buford-Bailey. While in town, she earned her master’s degree in epidemiology.

Edrick Floréal — Assistant coach, Great Britain, Ireland, Saint Lucia — Texas Longhorn Head Coach 2018 to present

Floréal guided Texas to the Men’s Indoor NCAA Championship in 2022 and the Women’s Outdoor NCAA title in 2023. He will work on the coaching staff for Great Britain, Ireland and Saint Lucia while in Paris. Floréal competed in the 1988 Seoul games and the 1992 Barcelona games for Canada.

Jim Garnham — Assistant coach, Germany — Texas Longhorn assistant coach 2020 to present

Garnham specializes in coaching jumps and the decathlon at Texas. He’ll be helping Leo Neugebauer and the German team in Paris.

Volleyball

Chiaka Ogbogu — USA — Texas Longhorn 2013-2017

Ogboku was a gold medalist with Team USA volleyball in Tokyo. Ogbogu is from Coppell, Texas, and attended UT Austin. She has gold medals representing the USA in Nations League tournaments and won seven league championships with her professional clubs in Europe. Ogbogu now lives in Austin and will join the League One Volleyball pro team after the Olympics.

Avery Skinner — USA — Austinite

Skinner will compete for Team USA in volleyball. Skinner is from Katy, Texas, and attended the University of Kentucky. Skinner now lives in Austin and if her surname sounds familiar, it’s because her sister is Madison Skinner — two-time NCAA champion at Texas.

Erik Sullivan — USA men’s volleyball team leader — Texas Longhorns volleyball associate head coach

Sullivan has been an assistant for Texas volleyball for 14 seasons. He helped the Longhorns win three national championships. Sullivan went to the 2000 and 2004 Olympics as a player with the men’s team.

AUSTIN, Texas – Birding is a popular hobby for many Texans. 

In Central Texas, you can spot birds exclusively seen in this region of Texas, such as the Carolina Chickadee and the endangered Golden-cheeked Warbler. However, many bird enthusiasts are concerned over future bird populations’ safety, and it’s not just from predators, but buildings.  

Texas is home to three of the top ten deadliest cities for birds — Houston, Dallas and San Antonio — according to a 2019 Cornell study. 

While Austin was designated a “Bird City” in 2023 by Texas Parks and Wildlife and Audubon Texas for the city’s bird-friendly initiatives, Austin has not implemented any bird-friendly building design codes.

For the local bird conservation group Travis Audubon Society, they believe it’s important to have these designs, as Austin is at the heart of the North American Central Flyway — the migration pathway for hundreds of species of birds passing through Texas, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming and Montana — especially since nearly one billion birds collide with glass in the United States every year.  

“Since we are located in the Central Flyway where there are so many birds traveling through while they migrate, it’s important that we adopt more bird-friendly practices and friendly building designs,” said Caley Zuzula, program manager for the Travis Audubon Society. “So, when they do come into the city, they aren’t so likely to become victims to a building collision or some other sort of urban threat.” 

How does glass impact birds? 

Heidi Trudell, a consultant and researcher on preventing bird collisions, said, unlike humans who can tell what glass is, for birds, glass is entirely invisible. As glass is a dynamic material that can reflect a bird’s environment, birds are unable to see the glass, causing them to collide with the glass. 

“To them, they’re either seeing reflections of habitat — it can be anything from a tree, a shrub, a chunk of grass — basically anything that a bird can interact with or that might offer shelter or food, can be an attractant to them,” Trudell said. “If they’re seeing a reflection of it, or they’re seeing it through glass that’s transparent, they have no context for seeing the glass and don’t comprehend that a physical barrier exists.” 

Heidi Trudell spoke during a June 5 Environmental Commission meeting to talk about bird-friendly building designs. 

Trudell, who also spoke during an Environmental Commission’s meeting in June, said when birds collide with glass, especially at top speeds, the consequences vary. Some birds instantly die from colliding with glass. However, those who survive end up sustaining injuries such as blunt force trauma, brain hemorrhaging, collarbone injuries and even concussions.  

“Essentially, a bird colliding with glass is the equivalent of an athlete without a helmet going 30 miles an hour into a brick wall face first,” Trudell said. “Even when it is a mild concussion, anytime a bird is on the ground, it’s vulnerable. So, the longer it’s stunned, the more likely it is to be grabbed by a cat, a dog, a fox, raccoon, like even deer (and squirrels) will eat birds on the ground.”

A yellow-billed Cuckoo, often seen in Texas. Photo by Jason Garcia. 

Trudell also noted the height of buildings plays a role in bird collisions. She said people have a misconception that skyscrapers and high-rise buildings cause bird collisions, when low-rise buildings for commercial or campuses cause 56% of bird collisions, residential buildings cause 44% and less than 1% of high-rise buildings cause bird collisions.  

“Most birds are active pretty much wherever their food is,” Trudell said. “So, while there are a lot of birds active above the treeline, the main threat of bird collisions occurs within the first 100 feet of the ground, depending on where your mature tree canopy is.” 

What are bird-friendly building designs? 

To prevent further bird collisions, the Travis Audubon Society is advocating for the city of Austin to implement bird-friendly building design policies. Bird-friendly building designs are created to be visible to birds. Trudell said this can involve different approaches — from small patterns such as dots etched into glass to using different glass materials such as UV-patterned glass, opaque and translucent glass and even angling glass differently — all of which warn birds before they collide.  

“The point is to communicate to the bird that you can’t fit through here,” said Maura Powers, a board director for the Travis Audubon Society. “(The patterns) have to be pretty narrow and there has to be an endpoint.”  

Block 185 or The Sailboat Building is currently occupied by Google. A spokesperson for Pelli Clarke & Partners, the architecture practice who worked on the building, said the building has low glass reflectivity and frit to prevent bird strikes. P

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Trudell said there are many examples of bird-friendly buildings across the world. The University of Alabama at Birmingham’s genomics building has small dot patterns etched into the glass two inches apart making a DNA pattern, the Statue of Liberty Museum in New York City and even Block 185 in Austin, currently occupied by Google.  

“Given its location adjacent to a creek and urban watershed, as well as its 35-story glass structure, Block 185 had the potential to pose a major risk to local bird populations, including the vulnerable Green Heron and Great Egret,” said a spokesperson for Pelli Clarke & Partners, the architecture practice behind Block 185. “The glazing contains elements that prevent bird strikes while remaining invisible to the naked eye, showing how bird friendly glasses present an eco-friendly way to preserve the bird population without compromising a project’s design or the views it’s intended to offer its occupants.” 

What’s being done?

While Austin is a designated “Bird City” for implementing bird-friendly initiatives such as the Lights Out Resolution and the World Migratory Bird Day Resolution, the Travis Audubon Society said there’s much more work to do. In a June meeting, Austin’s Environmental Commission voted to form a working group to review policies used in different cities and how Austin’s buildings can be bird friendly.  

“I do want to echo that as a birder and someone who actually takes people out professionally and guides bird trips, I am seeing less species,” said Jennifer Bristol, a commissioner for Austin’s Environmental Commission. “And it’s noticeable every time we go out. It’s sobering, it’s definitely sobering. Whereas you might have used to see hundreds of them, maybe (now)you see 10 or 12 in a season. So it is real, it’s happening right before our very eyes, and we can do something about it.” 

The working group will consist of people such as commissioners Jennifer Bristol, Peter Einhorn, Mariana Krueger and Dave Sullivan. While representatives from the Austin’s American Institute of Architects chapter, the Travis Audubon Society, the Design Commission and the Animal Advisory Commission will be asked to join the working group. 

A Bank Swallow. Photo by James Giroux.

Examples of current building codes with bird-friendly building designs in mind include San Francisco and New York City. New York City requires all new buildings to use more than 90% bird-friendly materials in the first 75 feet of the building, while San Francisco requires all new buildings, additions and significant renovations to have more than 90% of the glass in the first 60 feet to be bird-friendly.  

Travis Audubon Society and Trudell said costs to replace or even install bird-friendly glass doesn’t have to be expensive, especially if designers think of bird-friendly designs early on. 

While Austin’s Environmental Commission said they expect to have a plan by next April, the Travis Audubon Society said not only do they hope the city of Austin will adopt bird-friendly building codes to help the bird population in Austin, but also investigate how lighting and even landscaping can affect bird populations in urban areas.   

“There’s no way to overemphasize how dire the situation is for bird populations right now,” Trudell said.