Welcome to Austin Butterfly Forum!

Austin Butterfly Forum was hatched in 1993 to enrich people’s lives through butterfly conservation and public pollinator awareness. We organize field trips, conduct butterfly counts, promote native gardening, perform conservation activities, partner with other non-profits and community groups, and meet monthly for fun and educational presentations. Among our founders and officers are some of the most credentialed entomologists in the country, and many of our members are also crazy about dragonflies, damselflies, bees, beetles, spiders and other arthropods (our meetings often cover those subjects as well). Come join us and learn!

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🗓️ Monthly Meeting

October's meeting rescheduled to November 1, 2026 2:00pm-3:30pm

Hornsby Bend (2210 S FM 973, Austin Texas) and Zoom

CLICK HERE TO JOIN ZOOM MEETING

Travis County Butterfly Big Year: gaining a better understanding of local butterfly diversity

Speakers:

Erik Huebner and Adrian Johnson

Presentation:

When Erik Huebner, Adrian Johnson, and Arman Moreno decided to increase their knowledge of the different species of butterflies in the Austin area, doing a birding-style ‘big year’ seemed like a great way to learn more about microclimates, local species with extremely limited flight cycles, and to have fun searching for rarities. Erik took advantage of the ease of creating a project in iNaturalist to document the year, and all three have pored through iNaturalist’s county-wide data, along with guidebooks and talking to local experts to strategize their searches. Erik and Adrian will talk about their challenges, successes, and maybe a couple of their most exciting moments.

Bios:

Adrian Johnson is a native Austinite. He is a librarian at the Benson Latin American Collection at UT, and travels widely throughout Latin America to buy books and archives for the library, but spends all of his spare time on those trips taking pictures of birds, bugs and anything else that moves. He has spent his last 20 years in Austin diversifying the native gardens around his house in an attempt to attract a greater diversity of all living things, an obsession that began with noticing all of the different butterflies that showed up at different times of the year.

Erik Huebner is a lifellong naturalist and over 28 years as an environmental professional. Birding is my passion, but it all started in my youth catching lizards, snakes, and frogs. In 2021, I purchased a good camera and lens, primarily for birding. A few years later I began photographing and identifying butterflies at a neighborhood wildflower meadow and I was hooked. I also enjoy photographing and identifying moths.

📣 ATTENTION 📣

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Let's make general meetings more interactive! Sign up for a 10-minute presentation on a butterfly or a family of butterflies to educate the audience about butterflies (1 to 2 people per month). Moth topics are welcome. Don't be afraid even if you're a newbie! The goal is to learn together.

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ABF NEWSLETTER

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VOLUNTEER

🎟️ Upcoming Events

* If you would like to volunteer for any ABF event, please email butterfliesaustin@gmail.com

A list of past events can be found on the Calendar page

What: ABF Member 3rd Annual Photo Contest
When: Entries October 1 - 31

Contest Rules : https://sites.google.com/d/1RRyXVWeQW7MZNY_2s3bD6EKnoYxgr72Q/p/1os1oZNwsRbjQiWBC1rz5_p3D2ucoZaJo/edit

What: Spread the Harvest
When: October 17, 2026; 8am - 10am

Location: Dell Pediatric Research Institute, 1400 Barbara Jordan Blvd, Enter parking lot off of 51st street
Event Host: EdEN Lab (Education, Evaluation, Nutrition) UT at Austin helps teachers promote learning and healthier living through hands-on school garden experiences.
Details: ABF will be a community partner at the Fall 2026 Spread the Harvest event hosted by EdEN Lab. The event will have over 150 schools with gardens participating. We are looking for volunteers to represent ABF at our table. We will be talking with teachers and other champions to help promote and foster school gardens. ABF will bring the materials and all you need to do is bring yourself! Knowledge of host and nectar plants for butterflies would help but we know generally the public has questions about all things butterflies. If you wish to bring something to give away, let's coordinate!
https://www.edenut.org/resources

What: Volunteers needed to represent ABF at community festivals!
When:
- Spread the Harvest (10/17, Central Austin, 8a-10a)
- Little Walnut Creek Library (10/24, North Austin, 1p-4p)
- Zilker Botanical Garden (10/31, Central Austin, 10a-2p)

Let us know your availability for set up, part-time or the full event, or take-down via our form. This will help us get in touch with you. Thank you for helping to spread the importance of butterflies and sharing the joy!

https://forms.gle/3QzbWuEa7w2RafeP7

What: Keep Austin Fluttering at Zilker - Botanical Garden
When: 1st and 3rd Tuesdays, 9:00AM to 11:00AM

Do you want to be a steward of Zilker Botanical Garden's Butterfly Trail? Yes! We will gather to work together on a variety of garden tasks. Truth be told, the Butterfly Trail can get a little wild if we don't embrace it. If we work together to maximize the beauty of the Butterfly Trail, we can meet our mission to promote the conservation of butterflies and bring enjoyment to the visitors of the garden.

August 8:30AM to 10:30AM

September and on - 9:30AM to 11:30AM

https://www.givepulse.com/event/625563-Butterfly-Garden-Workday%21

To sign up as ABF vs general public, the password is: BUTTERFLY

***ABF Members, report your volunteer hours to ABF via email at butterfliesaustin@gmail.com*** These hours are tracked for quarterly and annual AAGC reports.

Interested in being a next level leader at ZBG?

https://zilkergarden.org/volunteer-opportunities/#docent