The Lower Rio Grande Valley is the crown jewel of American birding, a subtropical corner of deep South Texas where dozens of species reach the northern edge of their range and occur nowhere else in the country. Remnant thorn forest, resacas, and river woodlands hold a dazzling, colorful cast of birds, and rarities from Mexico turn up regularly. For a bird photographer, it's simply hard to beat.
Birds to look for: Green Jay, Great Kiskadee, Altamira Oriole, Plain Chachalaca, Green Kingfisher, Buff-bellied Hummingbird, and Least Grebe.
Best time to visit: Year-round; winter adds rarities and the biggest variety.
Altamira Oriole
Black-crested Titmouse
Black-necked Stilt
Blue Grosbeak
Brown Jay
Buff-bellied Hummingbird
Caspian Tern
Clay-colored Thrush
Crested Caracara
Curve-billed Thrasher
Gadwall x Northern Pintail
Gray Hawk
Great Kiskadee
Greater Roadrunner
Green Jay
Groove-billed Ani
Harris's Hawk
Hooded Oriole
Hook-billed Kite
Long-billed Thrasher
Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet
Northern Bobwhite
Northern Cardinal
Olive Sparrow
Orange-crowned Warbler
Pyrrhuloxia
Red-winged Blackbird
Roadside Hawk
Say's Phoebe
Verdin
Vesper Sparrow
White-tailed Hawk
White-tailed Kite
White-tipped Dove
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Common Mestra
Empress Leilia
Giant Swallowtail
Northern Sicklewing
Thistle Grasshopper
White Peacock
Blackbuck
Texas Dall
Texas Spiny Lizard
Spider Web
One of my favorite places in the valley because I believe it has the most variety of birds and probably the best chance at the rarest of birds.
The NBC is a 100-acre nature preserve with cultivated gardens and wildscape, navigable through woodland and savannah trails. This ever-changing landscape is a work in progress. Once an onion field in commercial production, this area is being restored to native habitat to support wildlife.
The Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge is a 2,088-acre "jewel" of the refuge system located in Alamo, Texas. Established in 1943, it sits at the intersection of major migratory flyways, protecting native subtropical woodlands. It is internationally renowned for birdwatching and features over 400 bird species and 300 butterfly varieties.
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