Adult male golden-cheeked warbler singing on a branch in oak-juniper woodland.
© Elizabeth Hingle

Texas avian consulting

Services & scope

What each service includes, and what shapes the scope — habitat, acreage, schedule, travel, and deliverables the project actually requires. Every project is quoted individually.

Golden-cheeked warbler services

Start with the level of certainty your decision needs

A preliminary golden-cheeked warbler (GCWA) desktop screening supports planning. A field habitat assessment supports an on-site habitat determination. A presence/absence survey is a separate, seasonal service conducted under current USFWS survey requirements.

Planning level

Preliminary GCWA desktop screening

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For one parcel up to 25 acres. Useful for acquisition, early design, budgeting, and deciding whether field verification should be scoped.

  • Current range and conservation-plan screening
  • Recent aerial imagery and parcel mapping
  • Preliminary potential-habitat identification
  • Estimated area for field verification
  • Written planning memorandum and next steps
ImportantNo site visit is included. This is not a formal habitat determination, GCWA presence/absence survey, agency concurrence, or project clearance.

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On-site determination

Species-specific GCWA field habitat assessment

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For one accessible, contiguous parcel up to 25 acres. The desktop foundation is combined with field verification against current USFWS GCWA habitat criteria and a documented determination.

  • Desktop review and field plan
  • Site visit by a federally permitted biologist
  • Vegetation evaluation against current GCWA habitat criteria
  • Mapped habitat-assessment report
  • Agency submission when required by the applicable permit conditions and current instructions

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Seasonal fieldwork

GCWA presence/absence protocol survey

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A one-season scope prepared under the current USFWS survey requirements. Pricing depends on potential-habitat acreage, travel, access, terrain, scheduling, weather exposure, and reporting needs.

  • Preseason desktop review and survey plan
  • Protocol field visits during the current survey window
  • Field data quality control and GIS deliverables
  • Survey report and required agency data submission
  • A quote that states completed visits, weather terms, travel, and exclusions
One survey yearA single-season engagement does not guarantee that absence can be inferred. Under the July 2025 requirements, USFWS states that three years of negative results are required in most cases.

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Desktop-screening credit. If Travel Twist Biologist is retained to complete an on-site GCWA habitat assessment for the same parcel and project footprint within six months, and no material site or project change requires the desktop work to be rebuilt, the full desktop-screening fee is credited toward the habitat-assessment price.

Nesting bird planning & field services

Different work, different scope

These services may be directed by a permit, approval, contract, land-manager condition, or project plan, or selected as professional risk management. The MBTA does not itself categorically require every project to conduct a nesting-bird survey.

Early planning

Nesting-bird desktop planning review

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For a defined project footprint up to 25 acres. Built to help scope fieldwork, schedule disturbance, and develop a defensible preliminary budget.

  • Aerial and habitat review
  • Likely nesting substrates and species groups
  • Other avian issues needing separate review
  • Recommended survey areas, timing, and staffing
  • Short planning memorandum

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Before disturbance

Pre-construction nesting-bird survey

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A field survey designed around the project's actual work area, habitat, schedule, approval language, and required survey-to-work interval.

  • Desktop planning included in the scope
  • Survey of the defined work area and applicable coverage area
  • Documentation of observed conditions
  • Written findings and project-specific recommendations

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During construction

Nest monitoring & biological construction support

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Variable-duration services for projects that encounter nesting activity or need continuing biological coverage.

  • Active-nest monitoring
  • Project- and species-specific buffer recommendations
  • Buffer establishment, crew communication, and release documentation
  • Biological construction monitoring and field reporting

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Scope assumptions

What changes the price

Starting prices assume that the client provides an accurate parcel or project boundary and that the property is reasonably accessible. A written quote will identify the actual assumptions and exclusions.

Prices are starting points, not universal fees. Each proposal should state the parcel or project footprint, included deliverables, travel terms, schedule, completed visits, weather and cancellation terms, and work that would require a change order.
Adult male golden-cheeked warbler feeding a fledgling on an oak branch.

Request a project quote

Send the parcel, project footprint, and schedule

Those three items are usually enough to identify the appropriate first service and prepare a defensible scope.