Bird Species

The birds of eastern woodlands, tropical forests, southwestern brush country, Gulf beaches and marshes, and coastal prairies are all conjoined in an unexpected yet singular merger at the Coastal Bend. Blue and Green Jays, Red-bellied and Golden-fronted Woodpeckers, Carolina and Bewick’s Wrens, Brown, Long-billed, and Curve-billed Thrashers, Eastern, Western, and Couch’s Kingbirds, Great Crested, Ash-throated, and Brown-crested Flycatchers, Belted, Green, and Ringed Kingfishers, Tufted and Black-crested Titmice, Chuck-will’s-widow, Common Pauraque, and Common Poorwill, and Bullock’s, Baltimore, and Audubon’s Orioles are a few examples of this rich admixture thrust together in this remarkable junction.

For a birder, the Coastal Bend is also about the chance to see countless numbers of birds, no matter their identity. A carpet of grounded migrants at Packery Channel, rivers of migrant swallows streaming along the Padre Island beaches, waterfowl wafting like smoke over Copano Bay, and the skies over Hazel Bazemore County Park blackened by migrating Broad-winged Hawks—those are the indelible, often indescribable, sensual experiences that extend far beyond counting names on a list. Yet for those whose interest is the list (no complaint from us), recent sightings such as Social Flycatcher at Pollywog Pond and Clay-colored Thrush at Blucher Park should be sufficient to get the blood rushing.

The Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology (CLO) is the world's foremost research institution for birds. The CLO has developed an on-line birding guide that gives the most current information about each species that you may see along the Coastal Bend. All About Birds is a spectacular resource that comes to us through the generosity of the CLO.

For those who would like access to the most extensive information available about North American birds, CLO has placed the entire Birds of North American (BNA) volumes on line. Access to this resource is by subscription only.