Check out birds at indoor exhibit

What are all those flying creatures flitting and soaring through the Port Aransas sky, wading in the wetlands and skittering along the water’s edge at the beach?

Find out in the comfort of the Civic Center in the city hall complex, 710 W. Ave. A, before taking your new-found knowledge outdoors.

The Civic Center foyer features a bird habitat exhibit, donated by Jo Leta Gavit and her sons, Bill and Brad, in memory of their husband and father, Lynn Gavit.

Lynn Gavit died in January 1995 while in South Africa for an international fishing tournament. He was an avid fisherman, pharmacist and realtor in Port Aransas for many years.

The exhibit, featuring birds indigenous to this area, is in the front, center cabinet.

The bird habitat depicts a scientifically accurate simulated marsh/mangrove environment. The University of Texas Marine Science Institute provided a list of plant specimens and collection locations.

Up to 20 birds are displayed, with seven or eight taxidermic birds integrated into “water” areas. Birds include scaup, sanderling, sandpiper, dunlin, little green heron, common loon, snowy egret, common tern, black-bellied whistling (tree) duck, rail and ring-billed gull.

The exhibit is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.