The Galveston area is one of the premier stretches of the upper Texas coast for birding, where Gulf beaches, bay flats, and coastal marsh come together right along a major migration corridor. In spring, exhausted migrants pour in off the Gulf, and year-round the tidal flats host spectacular numbers of shorebirds, wading birds, and terns. Legendary spots like Bolivar Flats let you work large flocks at close range on the sand, and the famous migrant traps of the upper coast are an easy extension of any trip here. Few places offer this much bird activity against such clean, open coastal light.
Birds to look for: Roseate Spoonbill, Reddish Egret, American Avocet, plovers, terns, skimmers, and spring warblers.
Best time to visit: April for spring migration; fall and winter for shorebirds and waterfowl.
American Avocet
American Oystercatcher
Black-bellied Plover
Black-necked Stilt
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Blue-headed Vireo
Blue-winged Teal
Boat-tailed Grackle
Broad-winged Hawk
Brown Booby
Brown Pelican
Brown Thrasher
Bufflehead
California Gull
Caspian Tern
Clapper Rail
Common Ground Dove
Common Yellowthroat
Cooper's Hawk
Eastern Warbling Vireo
Glaucous Gull
Gray Catbird
Green-winged Teal
Hooded Warbler
Horned Lark
Hudsonian Whimbrel
Iceland Gull
Laughing Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Lesser Yellowlegs
Long-billed Curlew
Louisiana Waterthrush
Nelson's Sparrow
Neotropic Cormorant
Northern Shoveler
Orange-crowned Warbler
Osprey
Piping Plover
Reddish Egret
Roseate Spoonbill
Royal Tern
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Ruddy Turnstone
Sanderling
Sandhill Crane
Scarlet Tanager
Sedge Wren
Snowy Egret
Snowy Plover
Swainson's Hawk
Swainson's Warbler
Swamp Sparrow
Tricolored Heron
Western Sandpiper
White Ibis
Willet
Wilson's Plover
Wilson's Warbler
Wood Thrush
Worm-eating Warbler
Yellow-headed Caracara
A very good area for migrating birds in the spring and fall with many of the common birds on the island visiting throughout the year.
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