The Austin area holds a large variety of great species of birds. It's along an area that splits some species from the West and East.
The areas around this little Texas town host a lot of wildlife including some of the best birds around. Balmorhea Lake holds lots of waterfowl, shorebirds and the like mostly during the colder months, and plenty of scrubland birds like orioles, quail, thrashers and sparrows. The cemetery here can hold some nice varieties as well. And there's a nice wetlands area to explore also.
Located in far southwest Texas along the Mexican border, Big Bend is massive and offers a diverse mix of mountains, rivers, and deserts. There's a great diversity of bird species and other wildlife like bears that range throughout this park.
The Coastal Bend is the middle stretch of the Texas coast around Port Aransas and Rockport, where barrier-island beaches, tidal flats, and live-oak mottes concentrate an amazing variety of birds. The boardwalks at Port Aransas put herons, ducks, and shorebirds at close range, spring migrants pour through the oak mottes, and in recent years the flats have even hosted American Flamingos.
The Galveston area is a great place for all of your shorebirds year-round and all of the migrants like warblers, tanagers and the like during spring.
Close to the Austin area is this gem. There are a few main areas around this lake but a lot of off the road areas as well.
These mountains hold a lot of species. It's probably my favorite mountain range in the state. The hikes here are from easy to rather difficult as there are some high elevation species.
West and south of Houston the land flattens into coastal prairie and bottomland forest, and the birding changes character with it. Cypress-lined sloughs and freshwater marsh hold herons, gallinules, and alligators at close range, while out on the remnant prairie the grass runs to the horizon and holds birds that need open country to survive - including the last wild Attwater's Prairie-Chickens. It is a very different Texas from the Hill Country, and worth the drive east for the wading birds alone.
This is the best place for seeing species from Mexico and other cool birds. Throughout the year here, there can be very rare birds that show up on occasion.
South Padre Island (SPI) is a globally renowned birdwatching destination on the Central Flyway, hosting over 300 migratory and resident species. Its unique Gulf Coast barrier island geography provides crucial stopover habitat for neotropical migrants, shorebirds, and waterfowl.
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