Biocultural Birdwalk at Tamōx Talōm Food Forest at Padre Park

On Saturday May 10^th, 2025 the Urban Bird Project hosted a biocultural birdwalk along the Yanaguana river and in the Tamōx Talōm Food Forest as a closing Spring event for students, faculty, and community members. As part of the event, Eres Gomez, Carolina Hinojosa, and Kenny Walker created a list of local birds names in English, Spanish, Nahuatl, and Nde/Apache in order rename local birds and provide multiple pathways for engaging and understanding local birds. Our guest, Jesus Reyes, also offered bird names in Pajalate, the Payaya (Coahuiltecan) language. We asked the assembled group to decenter the English bird names for the event and instead focus on the names from languages indigenous to the place, and the ways they change our relationships with birds. For example, the English word Grackle means “Crow” or “Jackdaw,” but this word is inaccurate since Grackles are blackbirds and not corvids. But the nahuatl name teotzanatle means sacred blackbird and is associated with a story documented in the Florentine Codex about how a Mexica Emperor, Ahuitzotl, cared for and protected this bird. So, not only is teotzanatle a more accurate name, but it connotes sacredness, and a practice of care and protection for our feathered relatives. This example is part of our ongoing work in biocultural conservation, which we’ve written about here.

During the event, UBP Research Program Coordinator, Eres Gomez, gathered us around the drum to tell us the story of the sacred waterbird (Cormorant), and Jesus Reyes sang a beautiful song in Pajalate in honor of missing and murdered Indigenous women.

As we walked away from the river and approached the forest of pecans and cottonwoods along the original river channels, we were greeted by Nadia Gaona of the Tamōx Talōm Food Forest, a four-acre agroforestry project established in 2021 by the Food Policy Council with over 100 fruit and nut trees. As Nadia led the group through the food forest, she emphasized how food production can serve a critical role in creating and maintaining a biodiverse ecosystem that welcomes pollinators, bats, and local/migratory birds. On this beautiful Spring day, the group learned about about companion species in agroforestry systems (how fruit/nut trees can be grown with perennial crops) and biointensive gardens (for growing milpa-based food like corn, beans, and squash). Jesus Reyes discussed the meaning of the name Tamōx Talōm (fire spirit) and its importance for educating all of us in the indigenous histories and cultures of Yanaguana.

Finally, the group gathered for a potluck, discussed their ongoing projects and goals at the end of this Spring in San Antonio, and sat for a group photo. Urban Bird Project deeply appreciates the organizers and volunteers who make a project like Tamōx Talōm possible and we look forward to future growth and collaborations.