The Heart of Texas

Mississippi Kite

We were recently in Abilene, Texas for a family wedding so of course we decided to squeeze in some birdwatching during our visit. We flew into San Antonio and spent a few days in the "Hill Country" before heading deep into the heart of Texas for the remainder of the trip.

Curve-billed Thrasher

Texas is fantastic for birds, but trying to locate them in the heat of July when breeding activity is largely finished is not particularly easy. Spring would have been a more advantageous season, but unfortunately the engaged couple did not consider our birdwatching preferences when they selected their wedding date. The nerve!

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

The two most sought-after species in the Hill Country region are Golden-cheeked Warbler and Black-capped Vireo. We were successful in finding the vireo, but could not locate the warbler despite a fairly intensive effort.

Golden-fronted Woodpecker

Ladder-backed Woodpecker

Texas has a great variety of birds, but we would have had to visit the Rio Grande Valley, coastal areas of the Gulf of Mexico, the Piney Woods region and several key locations in West Texas in addition to the Hill Country to fully appreciate the richness of bird species represented within the state. The large geographical area of Texas makes a visit to all of these areas impractical in a single short visit.

Mexican Ground Squirrel

Black-tailed Jackrabbit

In addition to birds, Texas is an interesting destination for viewing reptiles and mammals. One highlight of the trip was the opportunity to witness approximately 10 million Mexican Free-tailed Bats as they emerged from their maternity colony at dusk.

Texas is also well-known for its impressive variety of flying insects, particularly butterflies and dragonflies.

Halloween Pennant

Below is a complete list of birds recorded during our trip:

1. Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
2. Northern Bobwhite
3. Least Grebe
4. Pied-billed Grebe
5. Neotropic Cormorant
6. Anhinga
7. American White Pelican
8. Great Blue Heron
9. Great Egret
10. Snowy Egret
11. Little Blue Heron
12. Tricolored Heron
13. Cattle Egret
14. Green Heron
15. Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
16. White-faced Ibis
17. Black Vulture
18. Turkey Vulture
19. Mississippi Kite
20. Harris's Hawk
21. Red-shouldered Hawk
22. Swainson's Hawk
23. Red-tailed Hawk
24. Black-necked Stilt
25. Killdeer
26. Least Sandpiper
27. Spotted Sandpiper
28. Lesser Yellowlegs
29. Rock Pigeon
30. Eurasian Collared-Dove
31. Inca Dove
32. Common Ground-Dove
33. White-winged Dove
34. Mourning Dove
35. Groove-billed Ani
36. Yellow-billed Cuckoo
37. Common Nighthawk
38. Chimney Swift
39. Black-chinned Hummingbird
40. Belted Kingfisher
41. Golden-fronted Woodpecker
42. Ladder-backed Woodpecker
43. Crested Caracara
44. Peregrine Falcon
45. Acadian Flycatcher
46. Eastern Phoebe
47. Ash-throated Flycatcher
48. Couch's Kingbird
49. Western Kingbird
50. Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
51. Loggerhead Shrike
52. Black-capped Vireo
53. White-eyed Vireo
54. Hutton's Vireo
55. Red-eyed Vireo
56. Blue Jay
57. Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay
58. Common Raven
59. Purple Martin
60. Barn Swallow
61. Cliff Swallow
62. Cave Swallow
63. Carolina Chickadee
64. Black-crested Titmouse
65. Verdin
66. Canyon Wren
67. Carolina Wren
68. Bewick's Wren
69. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
70. Eastern Bluebird
71. American Robin
72. Curve-billed Thrasher
73. Long-billed Thrasher
74. Northern Mockingbird
75. European Starling
76. Louisiana Waterthrush
77. Black-and-white Warbler
78. Yellow-throated Warbler
79. Olive Sparrow
80. Chipping Sparrow
81. Lark Sparrow
82. Canyon Towhee
83. Rufous-crowned Sparrow
84. Summer Tanager
85. Northern Cardinal
86. Pyrrhuloxia
87. Blue Grosbeak
88. Indigo Bunting
89. Painted Bunting
90. Red-winged Blackbird
91. Yellow-headed Blackbird
92. Common Grackle
93. Great-tailed Grackle
94. Brown-headed Cowbird
95. Scott's Oriole
96. House Finch
97. Lesser Goldfinch
98. House Sparrow