A black-and-gray raptor known for its highly specialized diet of snails has made a rare appearance in Texas, drawing dozens of excited birders to Sugar Land’s Cullinan Park Conservancy this week.
The snail kite, native to Central and South America and, in the U.S., typically found only in Florida, was recorded in Fort Bend County for the first time. It’s only the sixth time the endangered species has been documented in Texas.
Local birder Clarence Yeung, who lives fewer than 10 minutes from the park, rushed out with his camera after the alert on eBird’srare bird alert system. For Yeung, it was a “lifer”—a term birders use for a species they’ve identified for the first time…