Anita’s Blog – International Biodiversity Day
- jjvanm
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
It might be too soon for those who went all out on the City Nature Challenge, but for those who missed it – or just miss it – here’s another chance to stand up for Texas:
May 22 is International Day for Biodiversity
iNaturalist.org is doing their part for the event with a project that began May 15 and will go through May 31, 2026.
If you have the time, energy and desire to hunt for more native nature, join the iNat project so your observations can count for a “global picture of life on Earth.”
I’ll let iNat explain it:
“— join our iNaturalist project to celebrate May 15–31!
“Every species you find and share contributes to a global picture of life on Earth, putting the IDB 2026 theme of "Acting locally for global impact" into action.
“Observe local species May 15–31 for International Day for Biological Diversity! Join this project so your observations count. Together, we create a global snapshot of life on Earth.
“The theme of IDB 2026 is ‘Acting locally for global impact.’ This project is our iNaturalist contribution to that vision. When you document the plants, fungi, animals, and other species in your backyard, neighborhood, or local wild places, you're not just sharing something beautiful: you're contributing to a living record of global biodiversity.”
This time, you have to join the project: “Project members only.”
How to participate:
Join this project (required for your observations to be included)
Observe any wild species in your area between May 15–31
Focus on what's around you: quality and local knowledge matter more than quantity
Learn more about IDB 2026: https://www.cbd.int/biodiversity-day/2026
The project is worldwide, accepts all taxa; it is not a challenge nor a competition. There is no running tally nor leaderboard, but there’s a progressive map.
Already France, India, United Kingdom, Spain, Africa, United States, Australia and New Zealand are lighting up the map with more than 41,000 observations. Check out the link:
Before breakfast one morning I happened to get an incredible luck shot. Here it is. Spoiler alert: The Muscovy safely flew off!
Another day, I had a fleeting view out my window of a Least Tern. It took a couple of days for it to return. I was near my camera. I wanted to include in the global look one of our species of greatest concern.
Turns out, it was a royal tern (intro photo above), not a least tern hanging around the resaca. Royal terns are globally secure and have a sub ranking in Texas as S3.
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department uses the NatureServe conservation status rank. “Rare species are listed at S1, Critically Imperiled. This denotes a very high risk of extirpation in Texas due to extreme rarity (often 5 or fewer occurrences), very steep population declines or severe vulnerabilities,” according to TPWD.
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department status ranking:
S1 Critically Imperiled in Texas
S2 Imperiled in Texas
S3 Vulnerable in Texas
S4 Apparently secure
S5 Secure in Texas
B Breeding, Conservation Status refers to the breeding population
N non-breeding population
SH Possibly extirpated in Texas. Extirpation (also known as 'local extinction') describes the situation in which a species or population no longer exists within a certain geographical location.
Without realizing it at the time, I have been lucky to have photographed a few on the list. Four photos below: (Photos by Anita Westervelt)
Mexican treefrog S3
Red-crowned parrot S2
Piping plover S2N
Wood stork SHB, S3N
Other listed species include -- the plants may surprise you:
Gray hawk S2B
Redish egret S2B
Franklin’s Gull S2N
Southern Yellow Bat, Lasiurus ega S3S4
Western yellow bat, Lasirurus xanthinus S1
Big free-tailed bat, Nyctinomops macrotis S3
Texas Sunflower, Helianthus praecox S2
Texas Stonecrop, Sedum nuttallianum S3
Texas wolf-berry, Lycium texanum S2
Cory’s croton, croton coryi S3
Texas ayenia, ayenia limitaris S1
Vasey’s adelia, Adelia vaseyi S3
Rare, Threatened, and Endangered Species of Texas by County, link:
Texas Invertebrate Species of Concern from katydids, moths, crayfish to tiger beetles, Odonata and more are annotated by species and county at this link:
Caribbean Yellowface (Neoerythromma cultellatum) - Hidalgo & Cameron Co., TX, plus s. FL
Blanchard's Silkmoth (Sphingicampa blanchardi) - Cameron & Hidalgo Co.
