Texas bird watching

State Checklists:
Thayer Birding Software
Texas Bird Record Committee
NPWRC Bird Checklists - Texas

Species Seen in Texas: 620

State Ornithological Society:
Texas Ornithological Society

Rare Bird Alerts:
(713) 369-9673   Statewide
(915) 691-8981   Abilene
(512) 926-8751   Austin
(361) 883-7410   Corpus Christi
(817) 329-1930   Northcentral
(903) 839-4804   Northeast
(956) 969-2731   Lower Rio Grande Valley
(210) 308-6788   San Antonio
Transcripts

Electronic Mailing Lists:
Texas – TEXBIRDS
To subscribe email listserv@list.audubon.org with the message subcribe texbirds. More info from egws@flash.net

Maps:
Texas
Texas Maps
National Parks Maps - Texas
Map of Counties

Retail Birding Stores
Travel Guide by City

Texas Organizations:
Audubon Chapters in Texas
   Bastrop County Audubon Society  Bastrop
   Bexar Audubon Society   San Antonio
   Dallas County Audubon Society   Dallas
   El Paso/Trans Pecos   El Paso
   Fort Worth Audubon Society  Fort Worth
   Houston Audubon Society   Houston
   Huntsville Audubon Society   Huntsville
   Llano Estacado Audubon Society   Lubbock
   Prairie and Timbers Audubon Society  McKinney
   Rio Brazos Audubon Society   College Station
   Tallgrass Prairie Chapter of NAS   Decatur
   Travis Audubon Society   Austin
   Tyler Audubon Society   Whitehouse
Big Bend Birders
Panhandle Bird Club
Texas Partners in Flight
The Nature Conservancy - Texas

Important Birding Locations in Texas:
Hot Spots
Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail
Birding Locations of the Upper Texas Coast
About.com list of Texas Birding Locations
Southeast Texas
North Central Texas   Dallas-Ft. Worth
Big Bend
Big Bend National Park
North-central Texas Birds
US Fish & Wildlife Refuges - Texas

Pete Thayer's Favorite Hot Spots:
Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge
29.35 N   94.30 W
Listen for Yellow and Black Rails during the evening. Painted Buntings and Dickcissel are common. Drive the 12 miles of gravel roads with windows down and insect repellent on.

Aransas National Wildlife Reserve
28.14 N   96.49 W
Herons, Ducks, Sandpipers and maybe a Whooping Crane. Paved tour road is 16 miles long. Try the observation tower and choose from six walking trails.

Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park
26.09 N   98.22 W
The lucky see a Blue Bunting, Clay-colored Robin or Hook-billed Kite. Watch for Pauraque sitting on the picnic tables at dusk. One of the top 10 sites in North America.

Big Bend National Park
29.07 N   103.19 W
Hike 11 miles to see the Colima Warbler. Lucifer Hummingbird and Gray Vireo are here, too. A beautiful, rugged area. Birding Rio Grande Village in the morning is wonderful. Visit in June, July or August.

Bolivar Flats
29.24 N   94.44 W
One of the premier birding spots on the Texas coast for shorebirds and waders. Look for Red Knots, White-rumped Sandpipers, Stilt Sandpipers, Sandwich Terns and Least Terns, among others.

Brazos Bend State Park
29.23 N   95.37 W
Southwest of Houston, this is a great place to look for Masked Duck and both Whistling-Ducks. Nice observation tower for scanning the marshy areas.

Brownsville
25.54 N   97.31 W
To the dump, to the dump, to the dump, dump, dump = Tamaulipas Crows (formerly called Mexican Crow)! During the 1980s this species was found in the US only at the Brownsville, Texas dump. Now it is very rare.

Davis Mountains
30.35 N   103.57 W
Look for area specialties like Common Black-Hawk and Montezuma Quail. A 75 mile scenic loop around the Davis Mountains covers many productive habitats.

Falcon Dam / San Ygnacio
26.35 N   99.08 W
The northern end of your Rio Grande Valley trip could add Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl, Muscovy Duck or White-collared Seedeater to your life list. San Ygnacio is about 44 miles upstream from Falcon Dam.

High Island
29.33 N   94.24 W
Spring warbler fallouts can be spectacular. If you just flew all the way across the Gulf of Mexico, you would plop down here to rest, too! Visit in April and early May.

Hill Country (Edwards Plateau)
29.37 N   98.35 W
Golden-cheeked Warbler and Black-capped Vireo are the regional specialties. Hurry before the habitat disappears. Also stop to see millions of Mexican Free-tailed Bats leave their limestone caves at dusk.

King Ranch
27.33 N   97.54 W
The largest ranch in Texas has been a haven for birds for over a century. Small groups are permitted to visit here and discover birds like Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl, Tropical Parula, Audubon's Oriole and White-tailed Hawk.

Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge
26.11 N   97.20 W
Mottled Duck, Olive Sparrow and lots of waterbirds and shorebirds. Aplomado Falcons are being reintroduced here -- don't count them yet.

Padre Island National Seashore
27.31 N   97.35 W
70 miles of unspoiled beach is home to gulls, terns, shorebirds and a few Peregrine Falcons.

Rockport/Fulton
28.01 N   97.03 W
A perennial top 3 ranking in the Christmas Bird Count. Over 200 species in one day! Fantastic in the spring, too. A boat tour out of Rockport is the best way to see a Whooping Crane during the winter.

Sabal Palm Grove Sanctuary
25.51 N   97.29 W
Look for Buff-bellied Hummingbirds, Least Grebe and Green Jays at Sabal Palm.

Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge
26.04 N   98.05 W
One of the VERY BEST spots in the US. Green Kingfisher, Green Jay, Red-billed Pigeon plus lots of other colors, too! Visit in late January or early February.