Quinta Mazatlan World Birding Center
Open for Business
by Ted Eubanks

In March I attended a pre-opening celebration at Quinta Mazatlan, the new World Birding Center (WBC) facility in McAllen, Texas. Fermata has been working with the World Birding Centers and their communities for the past couple of years, and many of the exhibits in Quinta Mazatlan were designed by Fermata. Quinta Mazatlan is an historic hacienda purchased and restored by McAllen as a community resource. The hacienda and its grounds offer excellent birding opportunities, and to that end McAllen committed a wing of the building as its World Birding Center facility.

The events on that Saturday night (March 4, to be exact) were an unabashed celebration of birds, and included presentations by Cliff Shackelford (Texas hummingbirds), Steve Kelling and Jeff Gerbracht from Cornell (eBird), and a display of John O’Neil’s breathtaking art. The evening’s festivities culminated with a performance of an orchestral piece by the Valley Symphonic Orchestra. The work, commissioned for this event as a celebration of birds, was accompanied by a synchronized presentation of the world-class bird photography of Steve Bentsen, Larry Ditto, and others.

I must tell you that when it comes to bird festivals and bird presentations I am jaded and unapologetically skeptical. I have suffered through too many tedious slide shows and travelogues in my life (and have given quite a few myself). I can state unequivocally that the events in March represented the absolute best in a celebration of birds that I have ever experienced in any country, any state, and any community. To have this take place in Texas, particularly south Texas, makes me extremely proud to be a native son.

Thanks to Larry Pressler, Colleen Hooks, Omar Rodriguez, and the city of McAllen for demonstrating, and a vivid fashion, the potential for the World Birding Center to engage a community and its residents. The Quinta Mazatlan WBC facility is now open to the public. Soon following will be the opening of the new facility in Weslaco (Llano Grande State Park), scheduled for June 21. The new center in Roma (operated by the USFWS) is opening July 5. The new center in Brownsville (Resaca de la Palma State Park) is under construction, and should be open in approximately 18 months. South Padre Island is moving ahead with its facility as well, so within 24 months I expect to see five new WBC facilities available to birders visiting South Texas.

Wow!

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