Dr. Houston’s interest in birds began as a young follower of Mrs. Isabel Priestley and continued as he crayoned covers of the first Blue Jay journals to be published by the Saskatchewan Natural History Society. He has assisted in banding more than 3,000 nestling Great Horned Owls and banded countless numbers of colonial – nesting birds, fish-eating birds including pelicans, cormorants, gulls and terns, and ducks and songbirds. He writes for publications such as American Birds and the Fish and Game Sportsman.

Dr. Houston has taken many budding ornithologists under his wing, including several Manitobans, and encouraged them to observe, study and publish. His extensive ornithological library is always available to naturalists willing to travel to Saskatoon.

His special interests include biological notes on egg-collectors (oologists) of the Northern Great Plains, including Manitoba, and the early historical works pertaining to natural history and ornithology in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.