New habitat to lure birds, tourists to VNC

City of Weslaco Public Facilities worker Euben Cabrera assists in placing the nesting boxes in the palm trees.WESLACO — Local red-crowned parrots and green parakeets have a few more nesting options as the Weslaco Chamber of Commerce's Leadership Mid Valley class this week mounted habitat boxes for the birds at Valley Nature Center.

"We just took a section of a palm trunk, maybe three feet and hollowed that out and kind of strapped it to the palm tree," Leadership Mid-Valley class member Laura Espinoza said. "The city guys were a big help. They took their bucket lift out there and strapped it up on top."

The new boxes mark the latest leg in the project aimed at raising awareness about protecting the avian species in Weslaco. Providing nesting boxes is expected to encourage the parrots to return to protected environments that act as observation locations for nature enthusiasts.

"The class as a whole chipped in and pitched in for it and to see it go up is really cool," Espinoza said. "And to see it once the Winter Texans are here later in the fall will make it really worth while."

The first phase of the project was completed with the installation of habitat at Harlon Block Park about three months ago.

"We were all excited about the project," Espinoza said. "After seeing what kind of impact the nature industry has on the Mid-Valley we just decided it made sense to do something nature-related."