Complete field guide to every bird species recorded in Texas. Browse by name, filter by taxonomic family or order, and tap any species for photos, range maps, songs, and identification tips.
All sighting data is sourced from eBird, the world's largest citizen science database for birds. Use this guide to discover what birds live in Texas, learn their calls, and plan birding trips to the best hotspots in the region.
Texas's state list tops 650 species — rivaled only by California — and no state packs more birding spectacle into a single trip. Texas sits at the crossroads of the Central and Mississippi flyways, so nearly every landbird and shorebird that breeds in central North America funnels through it twice a year. Add habitats that run from Chihuahuan desert and Hill Country limestone canyons to Gulf beaches, coastal prairie, and subtropical thornscrub, and almost any birding trip you can imagine is possible without leaving the state.
Two things make Texas birding famous worldwide. The first is spring fallout on the upper coast: when a norther meets trans-Gulf migrants in April, thousands of warblers, tanagers, buntings, and orioles can drop into a few acres of coastal woods at once. The second is the Rio Grande Valley, where Green Jay, Great Kiskadee, Plain Chachalaca, Altamira Oriole, and other species found nowhere else in the United States are everyday birds.
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Where to bird in Texas
High Island
The most famous migrant trap in North America. The Houston Audubon sanctuaries (Boy Scout Woods, Smith Oaks) concentrate trans-Gulf migrants in April, and the Smith Oaks rookery gives point-blank views of nesting Roseate Spoonbills and egrets.
Bolivar Flats Shorebird Sanctuary
Tens of thousands of shorebirds, terns, and gulls stage on these mudflats minutes from High Island — American Avocets, Piping and Wilson's Plovers, and Reddish Egrets year-round.
Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge
Coastal prairie and marsh east of Houston: rails (including Yellow and Black in winter), Fulvous Whistling-Ducks, Seaside Sparrows, and big winter goose flocks.
Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge
The crown jewel of Rio Grande Valley birding — subtropical forest along the river with Green Jays, Altamira Orioles, Plain Chachalacas, and a real shot at Hook-billed Kite.
Estero Llano Grande State Park
The Valley's most reliable spot for Pauraque roosting in the open, plus wetland specialties, Green Kingfisher, and regular Mexican rarities.
South Padre Island Birding Center
A tiny patch of trees and boardwalk marsh that concentrates spring migrants exactly like High Island, with the Laguna Madre's waders and terns thrown in.
Aransas National Wildlife Refuge
Winter home of the only natural wild flock of Whooping Cranes on Earth (roughly November through March), best seen by boat from Rockport.
Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge
Hill Country juniper-oak canyons with the two Texas breeding endemics birders travel for: Golden-cheeked Warbler and Black-capped Vireo (March–June).
Big Bend National Park
The only place in the United States to find Colima Warbler (hike the Chisos Mountains, April–July), plus Lucifer Hummingbird, Elf Owl, and Chihuahuan desert specialties.
Texas birding by season
Spring (March–May) — Fallout season on the coast
April is the peak: trans-Gulf migrants pour through the coastal woodlots, shorebirds crowd the flats, and Hill Country endemics are singing on territory. If you get a cold front between April 15–30, drop everything and get to High Island or South Padre.
Summer (June–August) — Breeding specialties beat the heat
Early mornings for Golden-cheeked Warbler and Black-capped Vireo in the Hill Country, Painted Buntings statewide, and the Big Bend specialties at elevation. Coastal rookeries are full of chicks.
Fall (August–November) — The long migration
Shorebirds return by late July, songbirds move through September, and hawk season peaks in late September when Broad-winged Hawk kettles in the tens of thousands pass the Smith Point and Corpus Christi hawk watches.
Winter (November–February) — Cranes, geese, and Valley rarities
Whooping Cranes at Aransas, huge waterfowl and Sandhill Crane flocks on the coastal prairies, sparrows everywhere, and the Rio Grande Valley at its birdiest — winter is when Mexican vagrants like Crimson-collared Grosbeak turn up.
All 789 bird species recorded in Texas
Every species on this list has been recorded in Texas on eBird. Tap any bird for photos, range maps, songs, and identification tips.