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Corpus Christi’s bays are often crowded with shorebirds and waterfowl, but landbirds and raptors can occur in surprising numbers. Particularly, Hazel Bazemore County Park is famous for its massive hawk migration in September and October. The sky darkens with more hawks than could be counted in a lifetime, species including Broad-winged Hawks and Mississippi Kites. And as such mass migration is usually associated with more social birds, like geese, it’s especially astounding to watch. Peregrine Falcons also make a mass-migration in the fall, although they’re more likely to number in the hundreds than in the thousands. A great place to see the falcons is on the Padre Island National Seashore. 

Some of the area rarities to watch for are the Sooty Tern, Gray Kingbird, Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher, and the Black-whiskered Vireo (the three latter have been found in Packery Channel Park). Not necessarily rare, but best found in Corpus Christi are the Hooded Merganser and the Common Goldeneye. Other interesting birds include the Black Skimmer, the Groove-billed Ani, the Olive Sparrow, the Couch’s Kingbird, the Horned Lark, and the Roseate Spoonbill.
 

Countless areas claim to be situated at a biological crossroads. To use a contemporary term, the Coastal Bend is more “mashup” than crossroads. 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.

The Corpus Christi area is more than about diversity. 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 are those indelible (often indescribable) sensual experiences than extend far beyond counting names on a list. Yet for those whose interest is the list, 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 Coastal Bend brings together the best in birding, the best in birders, and the best in birds. Why not join us and bird the Bend!