Birds

The four county Lower Rio Grande is the richest birding area and most diverse biologically in North America. There are over 500 species of birds (which is more than most states). There are over 50 specialty birds that are found no where else in United States or are most easily seen in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Many of them are listed below. Birders from all over the world flock to this special area to enjoy the birds and to fill their lists. The Lower Rio Grande has 80 great bird watching sites, with more being added each year. The area is so rich because of many factors, including the intersection here of desert and tropical vegetation zones, the mix of ocean and fresh water resources, forest, bush, grassland, desert and sand dune, and its location under the confluence of the major eastern and central migration flyways. For more free bird information, maps, and checklists and for field guides and other books call the Bird & Wildlife Shop at Alamo Inn, 956 782-9912.

Specialty Birds of the Lower Rio Grande include:

Least Grebe
Neotropic Cormorant
Reddish Egret
Black-Bellied Whistling-Duck
Muscovy Duck
Mottled Duck
Masked Duck
Northern Jacana
Hook-billed Kite
White-tailed Kiteting
Harris Hawk
Gray Hawk
Roadside Hawk
White-tailed Hawk
Crested Caracara
Aplomado Falcon
Plain Chachalaca
Red-billed Pigeon
White-tipped Dove
Green Parakeet
Red-crowned Parrot
Groove-billed Ani
Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl
Elf Owl

Pauraque
Buff-bellied Hummingbird
Ringed Kingfisher
Green Kingfisher
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet
Brown-crested Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Couch's Kingbird
Tropical Kingbird
Green Jay
Brown Jay
Tamaulipas Crow
Black-crested Titmouse
Clay-colored Robin
Long-billed Thrasher
Tropical Parula
Blue Bunting
Olive Sparrow
White-collared Seedeater
Boterri's Sparrow
Bronzed Cowbird
Altamira Oriole
Audubons Oriole

Weslaco's Llano Grande Lake at dusk
photo by Keith Hanckland, copyright 2007

The Lower Rio Grande Birding Seasons

by Keith Hackland

It is May. The Lower Rio Grande birding season is winding down in its ninth month. It has been busy, but now Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, the most visited birding hot spot, is seeing few birders and the volunteers have all departed.

There are plenty of birds everywhere, in May, nesting and raising young, our very striking birds, wearing bright breeding plumage and singing their best songs. Migrants are moving through - warblers, vireos, tanagers, orioles, hummingbirds, raptors; summer night jars are here, swooping across dawn and dusk skies. Spring and summer are wonderful. Mornings are mysteriously misty and full of birds. Evenings are sensuously subtle and full of birds. Late morning through mid afternoon is hot, bird siesta time - so on hot days birders retire to air conditioning, but on cooler days birders chase butterflies and dragonflies which love the sun, while the birds are quiet.

Why are there fewer birders in summer? The answer lies up north. Northerners from America and Europe don't have to go south to enjoy warm weather. In fact the north offers fierce summer birding competition to us. In summer northern weather is very favorable outdoors; exciting migrant and resident birds actively nest, and later migrants flock; summer is when birders visit Alaska, Canada, northern states and western mountains.

Recently we have begun seeing a few summer birders here. They come from the hotter areas and super humid areas (Arizona to Florida). They enjoy our ocean breezes and moderate heat. There are other great attributes of summer here - no waiting in restaurants, light road traffic, no one in a hurry, long daylight hours, and relaxed residents.

The Valley birding season has distinct patterns. Fall bird migration runs July to December. For the birds returning to their homes in Central and Southern America there is no hurry. Good weather and good food delays them extra days or weeks along the way, as they take it easy and store fat. Birding, too, is slower and comfortable. In the fall we are blessed with swarming butterflies, particularly in conjunction with favorable early rains. Millions of sulphurs and snouts cloud the brush land and gently occupy our cities and farms. These huge flocks usually show up September through November, and the number of species spikes, so fall is when the majority of butterfly watchers visit. Fall is also a popular time for nature festivals - Mission's Texas Butterfly Festival, Raymondville/Port Mansfield's Wild In Willacy, Harlingen's large Rio Grande Bird Festival, and McAllen's Wild Walk nature festival for kids.

December through February are the most popular months with birders who wish to escape the north's deep freeze. Our birds here are at their numeric peak. With all the wintering raptors and water birds every birdy spot is crammed full of birds. This bonanza for birders makes it very easy to see huge numbers. Lagunas, Resacas, ponds and rivers are covered with waterfowl, and Belted Kingfishers take up residence on bodies of water ignored all year by our Green and Ringed Kingfishers. On sunny days the birders are everywhere too, even birding from canoes on the Rio Grande. This is when Brownsville rolls out their International Birding Festival.

March through May are the spring months for birds here. Winter birds head north to breed, migrants rush through on their way north, and all adult resident birds are engaged full time in breeding, nesting, and raising young. Spring birds are in a frenzy. So are spring birders. The Texas Great Coastal Birding Classic competition runs in April when dozens of teams compete to count the most species in a day or week. Serious listers and twitchers from around the world descend on us to race through the hot spots seeing how high their list of species can go. This is also the favorite time for British birders to visit. McAllen runs the Texas Tropics Nature Festival at the end of March and into April.

It is May again. Time for Weslaco's Dragonfly Days celebration. Those of us who service birders are unwinding, catching up on paper work and sleep, firing up our barbeque grills, watching the prickly pears bloom and tunas ripen, relaxing in the Valley's quiet summer daze, just us and the birds