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Texas Winter Birding Must-Stops

Hundreds of bird species fly through Texas searching for warmer weather. If you’ve got birding fever, or want to see what the fuss is all about, here are some great options to spot your own feathered friend.

Whooping Cranes

Coastal Bird Spotting

A trip that should be on every birder’s bucket list is to take a Whooping Crane Tour in Fulton, Texas to see the highly endangered Whooping Cranes which can stand over 5 feet tall and are the tallest bird in North America. They spend their winter eating blue crabs in the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge.

To see over 300 species of birds including the brightly colored Green Jay, take a birding tour at the King Ranch in Kingsville, Texas. The knowledgeable guides will have you going bonkers for birds in no time. 

Finally, stroll the boardwalk at the South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center. Make sure to bring your binoculars, and you’ll see some of the most brightly colored and interesting coastal birds that call Texas home (at least during colder months).

 

Along the Rio Grande Valley

There’s a reason folks from all over the world visit the Rio Grande Valley during the winter, and it has everything to do with birds. The World Birding Center is a collection of nine prime birding locations around Brownsville, Texas and McAllen, Texas that will have you walking through woodlands, pondering under palms, and roaming through resacas (which are small wetland pond). Keep your eye out for rare kingfishers, seedeaters, thrashers, and sparrows. But even if you don’t see these elusive birds, the landscapes alone make it worth the trip.

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