Locations
Golden-cheeked Warbler © Robert Royse
Birding Locations
We guide throughout the state and can meet you anywhere. Below are Texas’s main birding regions along with a selection of their characteristic birds. Explore these regions and birds for inspiration on where to go and what to expect!
Salineno - McAllen - Brownsville - South Padre Island
Rio Grande Valley
The renowned Lower Rio Grande Valley – home to winding resacas, lush bosques, and salty lagunas which host an array of biological diversity. This “valley” is tied by biotic communities like Tamaulipan thornscrub, Lower Rio Grande floodplain, and barrier islands that capture the hearts of nature lovers throughout the world. From the Gulf of Mexico to the banks of the mighty Rio Grande River, more than five hundred bird species have graced this magical land.
The place to go for range-restricted specialties like Muscovy Duck, Plain Chachalaca, Least Grebe, Red-billed Pigeon, White-tipped Dove, Groove-billed Ani, Common Pauraque, Buff-bellied Hummingbird, White-tailed Kite, Hook-billed Kite, White-tailed Hawk, Gray Hawk, Ringed Kingfisher, Green Kingfisher, Aplomado Falcon, Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl, Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet, Great Kiskadee, Tropical Kingbird, Couch’s Kingbird, Yellow-green Vireo, Green Jay, Long-billed Thrasher, Clay-colored Thrush, Sprague’s Pipit, Botteri’s Sparrow, Altamira Oriole, Audubon’s Oriole, and Morelet’s Seedeater. Highly sought-after rarities include Masked Duck, Green-breasted Mango, Northern Jacana, Roadside Hawk, Elegant Trogon, Rose-throated Becard, Fork-tailed Flycatcher, Brown Jay, Tamaulipas Crow, White-throated Thrush, Gray-crowned Yellowthroat, Golden-crowned Warbler, Flame-colored Tanager, Crimson-collared Grosbeak, and Blue Bunting.
Pictured: Altamira Oriole, Buff-breasted Hummingbird, Morelet’s Seedeater, Clay-colored Thrush, Least Grebe, Green Jay, and White-tipped Dove.
Junction - Uvalde - San Antonio - Austin
Texas Hill COUNTRY
The famed hills of the Edwards Plateau – known for its iconic caverns and, most notably, being the natural border of America’s Southwestern and Southeastern regions. These hills are home to a multitude of endemic plants which puts the western and eastern diversity on full display. Birders from near and far visit the canyonlands of Central Texas for some of America’s most prominent breeding birds.
The region to observe breeding Black-capped Vireo and Golden-cheeked Warbler. Wider-ranging Texas specialties include Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Black-crested Titmouse, Cave Swallow, Olive Sparrow, and Tropical Parula. Southern and southwestern birds such as Inca Dove, Common-ground Dove, Common Poorwill, Harris’s Hawk, Zone-tailed Hawk, Burrowing Owl, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Crested Caracara, Black Phoebe, Vermilion Flycatcher, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Brown-crested Flycatcher, Western Kingbird, Bell’s Vireo, Hutton’s Vireo, Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay, Verdin, Bushtit, Canyon Wren, Bewick’s Wren, Lesser Goldfinch, Cassin’s Sparrow, Canyon Towhee, Rufous-crowned Sparrow, Hooded Oriole, Scott’s Oriole, and Bronzed Cowbird abound.
Pictured: Black-capped Vireo, Golden-cheeked Warbler, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Zone-tailed Hawk, Cave Swallow, Olive Sparrow, and Tropical Parula.
APLINE - MARATHON - TERLINGUA
BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK
Texas’ most famous Sky island and National Park that is larger than Rhode Island has enamored biologists for decades with its rich, and unique wildlife. The Park has recorded over four hundred species of birds which are attracted to its manifold habitats such as low Chihuahuan desert to mountain peaks covered in Mexican Pines. Sitting along the Rio Grande River the Park is the United State’s most southern mountain range, which gives its location a geographic advantage of hosting both Mexican and western bird species.
The only place to see Colima Warbler in the ABA area. Southwestern specialties include Scaled Quail, Montezuma Quail, Band-tailed Pigeon, Greater Roadrunner, Lesser Nighthawk, Mexican Whip-poor-will, White-throated Swift, Rivoli’s Hummingbird, Blue-throated Mountain-gem, Lucifer Hummingbird, Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Golden Eagle, Common Black Hawk, Flammulated Owl, Western Screech-Owl, Elf Owl, Acorn Woodpecker, Western Flycatcher, Gray Vireo, Plumbeous Vireo, Mexican Jay, Chihuahuan Raven, Rock Wren, Cactus Wren, Curve-billed Thrasher, Crissal Thrasher, Phainopepla, Black-chinned Sparrow, Chihuahuan Meadowlark, Lucy’s Warbler, Virginia’s Warbler, Grace’s Warbler, Painted Redstart, Hepatic Tanager, and Pyrrhuloxia.
Pictured: Blue-throated Mountain-gem, Scaled Quail, Colima Warbler, Varied Bunting, Pyrrhuloxia and Lucifer Hummingbird.
HOUSTON - GALVESTON - Beaumont - Rockport
UPPER TEXAS COAST
Composed of coastal grasslands, prairies, and brackish marshes the upper coast of Texas takes part in an extravaganza every spring when millions of birds migrate over the gulf of mexico bound for their breeding grounds. The tree groves planted by locals right by the gulf of Mexico act as migrant traps as the exhausted birds drop in for food and fresh water. This phenomenon attracts bird watchers from all over to witness the spectacle frenzy of birds.
The best place to observe incredible diversity and jaw-dropping numbers of migrants. A selection of the avifauna of this region includes Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Fulvous Whistling-Duck, Northern Bobwhite, Greater Prairie-Chicken, King Rail, Clapper Rail, Purple Gallinule, Black Rail, Limpkin, Whooping Crane, American Oystercatcher, American Golden-Plover, Snowy Plover, Wilson’s Plover, Piping Plover, Whimbrel, Hudsonian Godwit, Red Knot, White-rumped Sandpiper, Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Gull-billed Tern, Sandwich Tern, Black Skimmer, Wood Stork, Magnificent Frigatebird, Brown Booby, Anhinga, Brown Pelican, Tricolored Heron, Reddish Egret, Roseate Spoonbill, Swallow-tailed Kite, Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Alder Flycatcher, Philadelphia Vireo, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Veery, Seaside Sparrow, Bobolink, Boat-tailed Grackle, Ovenbird, Worm-eating Warbler, Golden-winged Warbler, Blue-winged Warbler, Prothonotary Warbler, Swainson’s Warbler, Mourning Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, Hooded Warbler, Cerulean Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Canada Warbler, Scarlet Tanager, Dickcissel.
Pictured: Whooping Crane, Wood Stork, Black-bellied Plover, Mourning Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, and Blackburnian Warbler.