Congrats to the 8 research grant recipients and 3 travel grant recipients in the inaugural round of the Schubot research and travel grant program. Recipients span undergrads, grad students, postdocs, and faculty across 5 different Departments and 3 Colleges. Research grant winners were awarded up to $2,500 in support of their project. Travel grant winners will receive up to $1,000 to defray costs of presenting avian research at conference. Thanks for your membership and acknowledging the Schubot Center in your work! Stay tuned for the next round of funding.

Our veterinary student caretakers (Left to Right) second-year Amanda Day, third-year Samantha Logsdon, and first-year Adrian Arellano not only spent their winter break caring for the birds, but they were able to help organize the tremendous donation of enrichment hardware, plastic toys, paper shreddables, etc. Thank you to all for a terrific start to 2020 at the aviary!

Our center is now officially called the ‘Schubot Center for Avian Health’ (updated from the ‘Schubot Exotic Bird Health Center’). We are excited for the center name to reflect our broad, inclusive, and expanding work to study birds, ranging from caged birds to wild populations, conservation, genetics, health, and more. Our logo features a few key species with great significance to the center. First, the endangered Whooping Crane has only a single natural migratory population that winters exclusively here in Texas, and Schubot members have been studying crane disease ecology and have sequenced the genome of the species to open new doors for conservation. Second, the Scarlet Macaw is a large parrot and popular in the aviculture community; researchers with Schubot work on conservation and chick survival of macaws in the wild including a longstanding conservation program based in Tambopata, Peru. Third, the monk parakeet (also known as a quaker parrot) is endemic to South America with many feral/invasive populations across cities in the USA, Europe, and more. The Schubot Aviary has >100 monk parakeets that are used for research, teaching, and outreach.

Schubot Center is excited to announce two new funding programs!
DEADLINE IS NOV. 26, 2019.

1. Avian Research Mini Grant (up to $2,500 each). The intended objective of these awards is to facilitate data collection by members of the Schubot Center to advance avian research, with an emphasis on aspects of avian health and/or conservation.
Schubot-mini-grant-application-final.pdf

2. Avian Research Travel Grants (up to $1,000 each). The intended objective of these awards is to support travel for Schubot Center members to engage in activities to learn new techniques at workshops or specialized laboratories or field stations, expand collaborative networks, and/or disseminate Texas A&M avian research findings at conferences, with an emphasis on aspects of avian health and/or conservation.
Schubot-travel-grants-application-final.pdf

Schubot Aviary Manager and Senior Research Associate Debra Turner was interviewed for a CVM ‘Pet Talk’ article on enrichment for birds: https://vetmed.tamu.edu/news/pet-talk/providing-enrichment-for-a-pet-bird/.

On Fri., Aug. 9, 2019, at 11:00 am, Dr. Donald Brightsmith and Simon Kiacz, from Texas A&M University in College Station, broadcasted a 30-minute webinar on their findings for a three-year study funded by the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department: “The Red-crowned Parrot (Amazona viridigenalis) in Southern Texas: Determining Status, Assessing Risks and Building Collaborations.”

Debra Turner, Senior Research Associate & Aviary Manager, was selected as 2019 CVM Staff Award Recipient!