Bird Endowment
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 742870599
- IRS 990-EZ coverage
- 2023–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990-EZ 2025, Form 990-N 2022
- Location
- Houston, TX, USA
- Phone
- 7138826129
- Rating
- 45
- Verdict
- MIXED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Natural Resources Conservation and Protection
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $117,628
- Expenses
- $108,549
- Assets
- $24,343
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
6 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Dorothy Paterson (President / Executive Director)
People named in this filing
- Lewis Waskey (Board of Directors)
- Carol Woodson (Board of Directors)
- Gen Anderson (Board of Directors)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Bird Endowment's mission is to save the critically endangered Blue-throated Macaw from extinction in its native range in Bolivia. Habitat destruction has contributed to a steep decline in the wild population of Blue-throated Macaws. In 2007, our Nido Adoptivo supplemental nest box project began with our Bolivian NGO partner, Asociación Armonía. At that time, fewer than 100 Blue-throated Macaws remained in the wild, with numbers declining. To date, 164 Blue-throated Macaw chicks have fledged from our nest boxes. With current wild population estimates of 420 - 480, this number of fledglings is significant, about 25% of the population, and increasing. In 2018, the Laney Rickman Reserve was established, which protects 6,000 acres of Blue-throated Macaw breeding grounds. Our Habitat Restoration Project commenced in 2022 to restore the reserve's habitat to its most natural state possible. By saving the Blue-throated Macaw, all species in the ecosystem have a safe haven to thrive.
What it reported doing in 2025
Conservation Education and Habitat Restoration Project on the Laney Rickman Reserve: Bird Endowment and its partner, Armonía, are taking action to restore the habitat of the Laney Rickman Reserve in Bolivia, which protects the most significant breeding grounds for the Blue-throated Macaw. To provide the best chance for this critically endangered bird's survival, steps are being taken to educate local students about conservation and restore the savanna and forest-island habitat as close to their original state as possible, so that the Blue-throated Macaw and other threatened species in the ecosystem can rebound and thrive. The survival success of this critically endangered bird in the wild is highly dependent on the availability of large mature trees for nesting in empty cavities. However, over 150 years of ranching in the Beni Savanna, this bird's native range, has cleared almost all these older-growth trees, reducing the availability of suitable nest sites. Work on this critical project commenced in late 2022 with surveys to document the remnant forest's current diversity, structure, and composition, an important first step in understanding the ecosystem and determining what needs to be done to restore the habitat. Armonía staff worked closely with a botanist to map the reserve and assess the various levels of degradation. The resulting data are incorporated into the Reforestation and Monitoring Plan for the Laney Rickman Reserve. Since Armonía now owns the land, plans are being made not only for 5-year and 10-year goals but also long-range goals for 100 and 200 years. The next immediate step is the Greenhouse Project to research and understand what specific types of plants need to be restored. The primary food source for the Blue-throated Macaw is the fruit of the motacú palm tree (Attalea phalerata). In addition, these birds also enjoy fruits from various other trees. Once the types and sources of seeds are determined, the project steps include sowing and nurturing them in the greenhouse. Research will also be done on testing the best methods for planting and maintaining the seedlings to ensure they will grow into mature trees. After the seedlings are planted, Armonía will construct firebreaks to protect the restored areas. In addition, workshops will be held on the reserve to share the best conservation and restoration practices with local landowners, cattle ranchers, government personnel, as well as university staff and students.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.
The verdict
MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and revenue has grown recently. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 0
- Transparency & Controls: 100
- Sustainability: 46
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 0%; rating input score 0
- Program expense ratio: 0%; rating input score 0
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 7.7%; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.22; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: 21% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 68% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 0% of revenue deployed · 0% of spending went to programs
- Governance: Filed governance answers
- Accomplishments: 2 filed program accomplishments
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 6 people listed
- Consistency: 8 of 9 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules
- Filing history: 3 filing years from 2023 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 0/100.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Part III transfer expenses within program total did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 50/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 21/100.