Borderlands Stories, as Told by the Birds

“Beautiful. Accessible. Sometimes horrific. And sometimes very inspiring.”  

That’s how Associate Professor of English at University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) Kenneth Walker describes birds. 

If these traits seem surprisingly specific and practically human-like, it's because Walker spends a lot of time listening carefully to birds. He’s co-leading the Urban Bird Project, a transdisciplinary project focused on the study of birds, whose clicks, whistles, and calls inspire stories of the people and land in the “naturally- and socially-bordered” region of South Texas.  

Whereas many avian ecology programs are rooted exclusively in university research, the Urban Bird Project is uniquely community-oriented, and asks, according to Walker, “How do we elevate the local Indigenous and Mexican American knowledge holders who already have this bird knowledge, and bring it back to [communities] that had been underserved?” 

The components of this Urban Bird Project are somewhat sprawling—including a course and fellowships at UTSA, guided bird walks in the community, local microplastics monitoring, and a nascent Avian Restor(y)ation Digital Repository.  

And its possibilities are downright soaring—whether it’s uplifting at-risk oral histories or protecting delicate environmental ecosystems. 

But the love that students, professors, and local residents feel for the birds? That’s simple. And for almost everyone involved, it all started with one bird that was just too weird, too beautiful, or too instructive not to learn from.  

We asked the Urban Bird Project which of these birds are most exciting. Here are their stories. 

Grackles lord over all, on power lines, content with their lives as scavengers. Discard is plentiful around here. Because they are always here, emplaced and abundant, like nopales, they are often referred to according to their place—the HEB birds, the Wal-Mart parking lot birds, the birds cleaning the grounds behind the Walgreens. While they seem to prefer areas with discard, they also prefer creating habitats in areas of excess. Even the grackles have learned the economies of gain and waste. Yet, the connection to these parking spaces is not far off from their expanded territory and cultural identity.

The tzanatl or zanate was a highly revered bird. The Aztec emperor Auitzotl first came upon the grackle in Verácruz, México. His admiration for the bird and the iridescence of its plumage had the emperor starry-eyed. He introduced the grackle to northern México. Its assisted migration and adaptation further north did not cease. Though a nuisance to many businesses, the grackle continues to adapt for its survival. It is a proud bird. It travels in numbers and does what it must to survive through various climates. Its squawk announces its presence and makes do where it must. 

 — Carolina Hinojosa, PhD Graduate Mellon Fellow, Urban Bird Project 

We often think of the roadrunner as a cartoon character known for its signature “beep-beep” call. And this is largely how I knew it before the Urban Bird Project.  

It turns out that this unique species is quite fascinating; belonging to the cuckoo family, it has a wide range of behavioral and physiological adaptations that allow it to survive in extreme desert environments; it minimizes water loss by removing salt from its bloodstream via specialized salt glands, and it keeps warm in the cool desert mornings by exposing an area of dark skin that absorbs the sun’s warmth.  

A student project (co-led by Gabriella Tijerina, Meg Mauldin, and Jackie Flores as part of our UBP cross-college team-taught course) also brought my attention to the importance of the roadrunner for several Pueblo groups of the Southwest as a species that has the power to protect against evil spirits. (The roadrunner’s X-shaped tracks are said to confuse and ward off evil spirits by concealing their true direction of travel.)  

Its cultural relevance also extends to UTSA, where Rowdy Roadrunner serves as UTSA’s mascot; here, our team is raising awareness of plastic pollution as part of UBP through a roadrunner sculpture created using plastic waste collected on campus. 

— Jen Smith, PhD, Urban Bird Project Lead

There are so many stories of this bird, which is also called cenzontle, a Nahuatl name that means “possessor of four hundred voices.” Mockingbirds have many names associated with them: X-chol-col-chek (Maya), Mimus polyglottus (Latin), Nightingales (Caribbean), Tenca (Chile), and more.  

The Cherokee call this bird Tsusga Digisgi, which translates to “he who eats heads,” and there's a wonderful story UPB Co-PI Amelia King-Kostelac found in Cherokee Earth Dwellers, a fabulous book of earth knowledge. The tale speaks to the dark side of avian stories, which I think is really important to share. The story says that the mockingbird didn’t have a voice and wanted one. So the bird was going around and telling other birds, “Hey, I can’t sing because I have something stuck in my throat—can you come check it out for me?” When the other birds would get close, the mockingbird would eat their heads and keep their song. And the Creator found out and told him: “Since you have stolen all those voices, whenever you sing from now on, you will have to use all the voices you have, even if you have to sing all night long.”  

For us, this story is phenomenal. It carries a rule of relationality about the consequences, and the curse, of stealing another’s voice. As we attempt to gather and digitally house different kinds of avian stories, the story reminds us to attend to the ethics of source work and to always mark who is speaking, where they are speaking from, and to whom. Not all avian stories are meant to be collected and shared, so we are careful, but there are so many stories of the mockingbird, like this one, that are meant to be shared and circulated more widely because ultimately they speak to the importance of maintaining ethical relationships with birds, the earth, and with each other. 

— Kenneth Walker, PhD, Urban Bird Project Lead

Northern mockingbirds (featuring in the Urban Bird Project’s logo) are intelligent, charismatic birds—prevalent across the U.S., Caribbean, and much of México, and renowned for their skills in mimicry.  

Mockingbirds have inspired an impressive breadth of stories from different regions and peoples, and they continue to feature as a symbol in many aspects of contemporary culture.  

I find the stories of mockingbirds to be evocative because of the ambiguous nature of the gift of mimicry, which codes to skill and intelligence on the one hand and imitation and trickery on the other. Studies have even shown that mockingbirds are capable of recognizing individuals and can connect past (e.g., aggressive or predatory) behaviors to specific individuals.  

They are also well adapted to urban environments and are therefore a familiar sight across many urban and suburban communities, which made them an excellent point of connection with students and community members, many of whom already have connections to this bird. 

Students and community members consistently share stories about individual mockingbirds they see day in and day out in their yards, whom they recognize and cherish as a part of their community. 

— Amelia King-Kostelac, PhD, Urban Bird Project Lead

The cormorant is a native water bird to the Yanaguana region, also known as San Antonio, Texas. There are two different cormorant species that inhabit this area: the Double-crested and Neotropic Cormorant. The Double-crested has a geographic range that covers the United States into Canada, and stretches along the Gulf Coast down into Mexico, while the Neotropic spans from Texas into Mexico and most of Central and South America.  

The cormorant is sacred to many of the Indigenous people who inhabit Yanaguana as well as throughout all of Turtle Island (i.e., North and Central America). Also referred to as the “water bird” or the “peyote bird,” it is often depicted on different prayer items (rattles, drums, jewelry, and regalia) and is the official symbol for the Native American Church. It is believed to be a messenger who delivers our prayers up to the Creator.   

Here in Yanaguana, the cormorant is also at the center of the Coahuiltecan creation story and is described as bringing life to the region through the sacred healing spirit waters of the San Antonio River. 

— Eres A. Gomez, Research Program Coordinator for the Urban Bird Project 

Galeria E.V.A. (Ecos y Voces del Arte) paired up with the Urban Bird Project during a six-week summer art program in 2023 and 2024.  

At a field trip to the Yanawana River (also known as the San Antonio River) at the Confluence Park and the Trueheart Ranch Nature Park, we learned about the great variety of bird species in our city—including the cormorant and its connection to the origin story of the Payaya/Coahuiltecan people. The story states that the water bird (cormorant) flew into the Blue Hole (a natural spring) where the blue panther lived, and then flew back out of the spring—water dripping from its feathers, giving life to the river and land.  

As the story was told by UBP fellow Eres Gomez, we observed a cormorant fly over us. Its dark blue feathers reflected the sun and the water. Our students will always remember that bird and that experience. 

— Veronica Castillo Salas and Humberto Salas, founders & directors of Galeria E.V.A.; Rosie Torres, assistant to Veronica Castillo Salas and Galeria E.V.A. 

Note: Though not native to the South Texas region like many birds studied through the Urban Bird Project, the study of African grey parrots holds similar transnational restor(y)ing power. 

As a Nigerian who has lived in the United States for only three years, I explored the cultural, spiritual, and ecological significance of parrots among the Yoruba people in Nigeria. 

For the Yoruba people, parrots represent notions of authenticity, wisdom, and the connection between the terrestrial and celestial realms. These colorful birds, characterized by their striking gray and red feathers, as well as their ability to mimic human speech, are esteemed for both their physical attributes and their profound spiritual connotations.

African grey parrots are known for their lively chatter and social behavior, often observed in pairs or small groups. In Yoruba rituals, particularly in Ifá divination, parrot feathers enhance spiritual clarity and are valued for their protective properties in healing practices. Ecologically, parrots aid in seed dispersal, maintaining forest health and promoting plant diversity. Their cultural, spiritual, and ecological significance underscores the need to protect these birds and their habitats, aligning traditional reverence with modern conservation efforts. 

— Olarotimi Ogungbemi, PhD Fellow, 2024 Urban Bird Project Scholar