Excerpts from
The Birds of Texas
by John L. Tveten

Texas can boast of having more bird species - nearly 600 - than any other state or province in North America, according to the American Birding Association.

Some birds sighted in Texas occur nowhere else in the nation, and bird watchers from around the world flock to see them.

The Rio Grande Valley is home to colorful green jays, Altamira orioles and raucous, pheasant-sized chachalacas.

L - Altamira Oriole ©Photo by John Tveten

Visitors to the Hill Country search for the endangered golden-cheeked warbler and black-capped vireo, while others comb the East Texas Piney Woods for the red-cockaded woodpecker and brown-headed nuthatch. Aransas National Wildlife Refuge on the central coast is the winter home of the endangered whooping cranes, the tallest birds in North America.

The sheer size of Texas, 275,416 square miles, contributes to the biological diversity. Size alone, however, does not explain it. In general, biological diversity increases as one moves toward the tropics: the five leading bird states (Texas, California, Arizona, Florida and New Mexico) all lie along the southern edge of the country.

R - Sharp-shinned Hawk ©Photo by John Tveten

Not only do many warm - weather species nest in Texas, but northern ones also pass through on their long migration flights. Many, like their human counterparts, remain for the winter. Texas birds change with the seasons, but they are always plentiful at any time of year.

Biologically speaking, East meets West along a broad front running down the middle of Texas - through Dallas and Fort Worth, Waco, Austin, San Antonio and the lower Rio Grande Valley. East of that line, you find birds typical of the southeastern U.S. and northward to Minnesota and Maine. They are adapted to life in forests, rich blackland prairies and the coastal plain.

West of the line, the birds are more characteristic of Mexico, New Mexico and Arizona, and the migrants may be Rocky Mountain species. They, in turn, are at home in a more arid climate and in the limestone hills and rugged mountain ranges. Mexican birds inhabit the Rio Grande Valley, while Great Plains species are perfectly at home in the grasslands of the Panhandle.

L-Wood Duck ©TPWD Photo by Glen Mills

Texas abounds with excellent birding locations. Some spots along the coast like High Island, Galveston and Rockport have earned fame as "hot spots" during spring migration, while the refuges and remnant woodlands along the Rio Grande provide chances to see Mexican species found nowhere else. The Big Thicket, the Texas Hill Country, the Panhandle, the Big Bend region and the Guadalupe Mountains all have their specialties. Almost every state park and national wildlife refuge offers good birding opportunities. No matter where you live in Texas, you are certain to be near some choice location visited by birders from across the continent.

More Interviews with John Tveten:

The Birds of Texas
Birding in the Rio Grande Valley
Rising Popularity of Birding
Importance of Avian Conservation

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