Birding Tour

Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park, World Birding Center, and Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail – Mission

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Bird-watchers are flocking from all over the world to catch a glimpse of the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail. Whooping Cranes, Black-Chinned Hummingbirds, Piping Plovers and Painted Buntings are just a few of the hundreds of birds that can be seen along this 600-mile stretch of the Texas Coastline from Beaumont to the Rio Grande Valley.

Trail maps are broken into sections for the Upper Coast, the Central Coast and the Lower Coast. Each section consists of both well-known birding sites and those local perches that are off the beaten path. Various loops diverge from the coast and wind inland for several miles, increasing the rich diversity of birds that can be seen in woodlands and prairies as well as on bays and beaches.

The Upper Coast section begins at the Big Thicket National Preserve near Beaumont and wends its way down to the San Bernard Wildlife Refuge, south of Freeport.

The winter home of Whooping Cranes is just one of the sites on the Central Coast section of the Trail. This section starts in Matagorda Bay, making its way through Victoria and Corpus Christi and ending just south of Kingsville.

Migrating birds and a variety of tropical species can be found along the Lower Coast. This section originates at the King Ranch and includes South Padre Island, Brownsville, Harlingen and Alamo, stopping just south of Laredo.

The trails are well designed with conveniences such as boardwalks, parking pullouts and observation platforms. In all, about 630 species of birds have been documented in Texas. The Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail packages hundreds of sites into easily accessible experiences for both novice and experienced birders.

The Rio Grande Valley is a world-class birding destination, and the Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park is one of the shining stars. It is the headquarters for the World Birding Center, a network of nine sites along 120 miles of river road from South Padre Island west to Roma.

Birders from all over the world are drawn to this 760-acre subtropical thorn forest along the Texas-Mexico border. They come here to catch glimpses of Green Jays, Altamira Orioles, Common Pauraques and other species found nowhere else in the United States. More than 350 species of birds take a layover here on their migration pathway through the Central Flyway and toward the Mississippi River basin.

This bird-watcher base camp is equipped for any birding adventure with a hawk tower, nature trails, observation tower, birding blinds and viewing stations, primitive camping sites, tram tours and several dedicated bird-feeding stations.