The Austin area sits where the Texas Hill Country meets the Blackland Prairie, and that meeting of habitats makes for wonderfully varied birding. Spring-fed creeks, oak-juniper canyons, and a chain of Colorado River lakes draw everything from tiny songbirds to wading birds and wintering waterfowl, often within a short drive of downtown. It's home turf for me, and the mix of scenery and species keeps a camera busy in every season.
Birds to look for: Golden-cheeked Warbler, Black-capped Vireo, Painted Bunting, Vermilion Flycatcher, Canyon Wren, herons and egrets, and wintering ducks.
Best time to visit: Spring (April to May) for breeding warblers and vireos; winter for waterfowl and sparrows.
Acadian Flycatcher
Alder Flycatcher
Allen's Hummingbird
American Avocet
American Coot
American Crow
American Golden-Plover
American Goldfinch
American Kestrel
American Pipit
American Redstart
American Robin
American White Pelican
American Wigeon
Bald Eagle
Bank Swallow
Barn Swallow
Barred Owl
Bay-breasted Warbler
Belted Kingfisher
Black-and-white Warbler
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Black-capped Vireo
Black-chinned Hummingbird
Black-crested Titmouse
Black-necked Stilt
Black-throated Green Warbler
Black-throated Sparrow
Blackburnian Warbler
Blue Grosbeak
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Blue-headed Vireo
Blue-winged Teal
Blue-winged Warbler
Bobolink
Broad-winged Hawk
Brown Booby
Brown Pelican
Brown Thrasher
Brown-crested Flycatcher
Brown-headed Cowbird
Buff-breasted Sandpiper
Bufflehead
Burrowing Owl
Canada Warbler
Canvasback
Canyon Wren
Carolina Chickadee
Carolina Wren
Cassin's Sparrow
Cave Swallow
Cedar Waxwing
Cerulean Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Chimney Swift
Chipping Sparrow
Cinnamon Teal
Cliff Swallow
Common Gallinule
Common Goldeneye
Common Grackle
Common Ground Dove
Common Loon
Common Nighthawk
Common Yellowthroat
Couch's Kingbird
Crested Caracara
Dickcissel
Double-crested Cormorant
Downy Woodpecker
Eared Grebe
Eastern Bluebird
Eastern Kingbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Eastern Phoebe
Eastern Towhee
Eastern Warbling Vireo
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Egyptian Goose
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Field Sparrow
Forster's Tern
Franklin's Gull
Fulvous Whistling-Duck
Gadwall
Golden-cheeked Warbler
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Golden-winged Warbler
Grasshopper Sparrow
Gray Catbird
Gray-cheeked Thrush
Great Blue Heron
Great Crested Flycatcher
Great Egret
Great Horned Owl
Great-tailed Grackle
Greater Roadrunner
Greater Yellowlegs
Green Heron
Green-winged Teal
Harris's Hawk
Harris's Sparrow
Hermit Thrush
Hooded Merganser
Hooded Warbler
House Finch
House Sparrow
Inca Dove
Indigo Bunting
Killdeer
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Lark Sparrow
Least Flycatcher
Least Sandpiper
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Lesser Goldfinch
Lesser Nighthawk
Lesser Scaup
Lesser Yellowlegs
Lincoln's Sparrow
Little Blue Heron
Loggerhead Shrike
Long-billed Curlew
Long-billed Dowitcher
Louisiana Waterthrush
MacGillivray's Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Mallard
Merlin
Mexican Duck
Mississippi Kite
Monk Parakeet
Mourning Dove
Mourning Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Neotropic Cormorant
Northern Cardinal
Northern Flicker
Northern Harrier
Northern House Wren
Northern Mockingbird
Northern Parula
Northern Pintail
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Northern Waterthrush
Northern Yellow Warbler
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Orange-crowned Warbler
Orchard Oriole
Osprey
Ovenbird
Painted Bunting
Pectoral Sandpiper
Phainopepla
Philadelphia Vireo
Pied-billed Grebe
Pileated Woodpecker
Pine Siskin
Pine Warbler
Piping Plover
Prairie Warbler
Purple Martin
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Red-eyed Vireo
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-winged Blackbird
Reddish Egret
Redhead
Ring-billed Gull
Ring-necked Duck
Ringed Kingfisher
Rock Wren
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Roseate Spoonbill
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Ruddy Duck
Rufous Hummingbird
Rufous-crowned Sparrow
Rusty Blackbird
Sage Thrasher
Sanderling
Sandhill Crane
Savannah Sparrow
Say's Phoebe
Scarlet Tanager
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Short-eared Owl
Short-tailed Hawk
Snow Goose
Snowy Egret
Snowy Plover
Song Sparrow
Sora
Spotted Sandpiper
Spotted Towhee
Sprague's Pipit
Stilt Sandpiper
Summer Tanager
Surf Scoter
Swainson's Hawk
Swainson's Thrush
Swainson's Warbler
Swamp Sparrow
Tree Swallow
Turkey Vulture
Upland Sandpiper
Veery
Verdin
Vermilion Flycatcher
Vesper Sparrow
Virginia Rail
Western Bluebird
Western Cattle-Egret
Western Kingbird
Western Meadowlark
Western Sandpiper
White-crowned Sparrow
White-eyed Vireo
White-faced Ibis
White-rumped Sandpiper
White-throated Sparrow
Willow Flycatcher
Wilson's Phalarope
Wilson's Snipe
Wilson's Warbler
Winter Wren
Wood Thrush
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Yellow-breasted Chat
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
American Rubyspot
American Snout Butterfly
Band-winged Grasshopper
Blue Dasher
Blue-fronted Dancer
Bordered Patch
Brown-legged Grass-carrying Wasp
Bumblebee
Celia's Roadside Skipper
Checkered White
Common Buckeye
Common Green Darner
Common Mestra
Crane Fly
Dainty Sulphur
Eastern Pondhawk
Eastern Ringtail Dragonfly
Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly
Eight-spotted Forester Moth
Familiar Bluet Damselfly
Fiery skipper
Four-spotted Pennant Dragonfly
Giant Black Robber Fly
Giant Swallowtail
Goatweed Leafwing
Gray Bird Grasshopper
Great Spreadwing
Green Lynx Spider
Guinea Paper Wasp
Gulf Fritillary Butterfly
Halloween Pennant Dragonfly
Julia
Lucerne Moth
Monarch Butterfly
Neon Skimmer
Orb Weaver
Pipevine Swallowtail
Question Mark Butterfly
Red Harvester Ant
Red Paper Wasp
Red-footed Cannibalfly
Red-mantled Saddlebags Dragonfly
Sand Wasp
Smoky Rubyspot
Spined Micrathena
Spotted Bird Grasshopper
Springwater Dancer
Tawny Emperor
Texan Crescent
Variegated Fritillary Butterfly
Walking Stick
Wandering Glider
Western Spotted Orbweaver
White-striped Longtail
Widow Skimmer Dragonfly
Yellow-collared Scape Moth
Blue Mistflower
Cattails
Giant Spiderwort
Julia's Goldenrod
Plains Coreopsis
Texas Spiderwort
Turk's Cap
Cottontail Rabbit
Cow
Eastern Fox Squirrel
Gray Fox
Nutria
Raccoon
Rock Squirrel
Alligator
Broad-banded Water Snake
Bull Frog
Cottonmouth
Greater Earless Lizard
Green Anole
Gulf Coast Toad
Red-striped Ribbon Snake
Spiny Softshell Turtle
Texas Spiny Lizard
Texas Spotted Whiptail
Lake Austin Thunderstorm
Sun Breaking Out
Sunset
A great area and very important for migrating birds. There's always a chance at rare birds here as well. If you hang out here long enough, you'll see some nice species like a Bald Eagle, Peregrine Falcons, Loons, and maybe a rare duck or two.
This wonderful place holds a lot of bird species that live and forage in fields and pastures. It's along Lake Austin as well so there are more opportunities there.
Hornsby Bend Bird Observatory is the top spot for waterfowl in the Austin area. There are plenty of other species as well as a huge population of the different swallows and shorebirds.
This is a grat area with a min trail that stretches all the way to Hornsby Bend. Lots of wooded area and open fields here with views of the river that winds on by.
This is a great place in the Austin area to get a variety of great species of birds including most of the western birds that can be found in west Travis County.
There are great views of the river here near downtown Austin. Many raptors nest here as well and in the colder months, many species of waterfowl congregate here.
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