If you’ve noticed a Travis Audubon Lights Out Texas yard sign around Austin, there’s a good chance Maura Powers had something to do with it.

A current Travis Audubon board member and chair of the Advocacy Committee, Maura is a strong, behind-the-scenes force working to make Austin safer for birds—especially during migration, when artificial lights and glass buildings pose serious risks. She first got involved during the COVID-19 pandemic, after years of transforming her yard with native plants to support wildlife. What began as a personal project quickly grew into something much larger.

“I emailed Travis Audubon and said, hey I would really like to help out with this Lights Out Texas initiative,” she says. “… and that was my introduction to volunteering with Travis Audubon.”

Maura brings a long history of public service to her work. After a 23-year career as an attorney with the Texas Attorney General’s office—where she met her husband, a fifth-generation Texan—she retired and turned her attention fully to conservation.

Though she tends to work out of the spotlight, Maura’s impact is visible across the city. She helps lead the Lights Out Texas initiative locally, encouraging residents and businesses to turn off unnecessary nighttime lighting during migration. It’s a simple action with significant impact—saving thousands of birds each year—and awareness continues to grow, one yard sign and one conversation at a time.

Another recent example of her advocacy work involved Northwest Beverly Sheffield Park, a popular birding spot where concerns arose about habitat changes affecting the park’s duck pond and surrounding wildlife. Maura helped facilitate conversations between concerned community members and City Council staff, working with Council Member Mike Siegel’s office to explore practical solutions. The effort even extended to protecting a nesting owl in the park, with the city taking steps to temporarily fence off the area to reduce disturbance during a sensitive time.

But she didn’t stop there.

Maura is also deeply involved in advancing bird-friendly building design in Austin. Glass collisions remain one of the leading causes of bird deaths, and she is working with city leaders to move forward an ordinance that would require safer building practices. Right now, she is focused on building community support for a petition aiming to reach 1,000 signatures—an important step in helping move the effort across the finish line.

When it comes to building that kind of support, Maura emphasizes meeting people where they are. “You ask people what is important to them,” she says. “And then you help them see that bird survival is part of that—it’s all connected.”

Help us reach 1,000 signatures: For those interested in learning more about Bird Safe Buildings—and willing to add their voice—please sign the petition here: Help us Pass Austin’s Bird-Friendly Building Ordinance

Whether she’s organizing neighbors, working with city officials, or tending her native plant garden, Maura shows how meaningful change often happens quietly, through persistence and steady effort.

Thank you, Maura, for your thoughtful leadership and your unwavering commitment to making the world safer for birds.