Texas is a birding wonderland, celebrated for its vast range of habitats and astonishing diversity, from the Rio Grande Valley to the Texas Coast and the Hill Country. Field Guides tours visit all of these. Continue reading our overview of Texas tours...
Texas Birding Departures
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Escape the winter birding doldrums on our week-long tour to the bird-rich Rio Grande Valley, with specialties from kiskadees and Green Jays to Hook-billed Kites and Altamira Orioles. And the winter potential for Mexican vagrants is terrific!
Departures- Jan 10-18, 2026 with Alex Sundvall
- Jan 9-17, 2027 with TBA
The migration mecca of High Island plus specialties of the Big Thicket and myriad waterbirds and shorebirds.
Departures- Apr 11-17, 2026 with John Coons & Alex Sundvall
- Apr 18-24, 2026 with Alex Sundvall
- Apr 17-23, 2027 with TBA
- Apr 24-30, 2027 with TBA
Texas Overview & Highlights
The iconic Rio Grande Valley, which we visit on our South Texas Rarities tour, is famed among birders for subtropical specialties like Green Jay, Great Kiskadee, Altamira Oriole, and the rare Hook-billed Kite, which mingle with an ever-changing cast of Mexican vagrants. The region's unique blend of resident and migratory birds means you might encounter rarities from Mexico that vary from year to year, such as Crimson-collared Grosbeak, Rose-throated Becard, or even a Bat Falcon. Visits to the Rockport area, Aransas NWR, and South Padre Island round out this rich wintertime itinerary.
Spring migration along the Gulf Coast, which we feature on our Texas Coast Migration Spectacle itinerary, is legendary: thousands of migrants including warblers, buntings, orioles, and grosbeaks drop into oak groves and marshes after their trans-Gulf journeys, creating unforgettable "fallouts" at hotspots like High Island and Bolivar Flats. Here, birders can marvel at up to 35 species of shorebirds, dazzling heron and egret rookeries, and specialties like King and Clapper rails, Least Bittern, Purple Gallinule, and Seaside Sparrow. Inland, East Texas's piney woods shelter Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Bachman's Sparrow, and a host of breeding warblers.
Venture to the karst limestone landscape of the Texas Hill Country for Golden-cheeked Warbler and Black-capped Vireo, and the spectacle of millions of bats at Frio Bat Cave; and to the magnificent mountain and desert lanscapes of Big Bend National Park for Montezuma Quail, Colima Warbler (found only here in the U.S.), and numerous other southwestern specialties. We feature these areas on our Texas's Big Bend & Hill Country itinerary, but please note: Our main lodging for this tour is currently undergoing major renovations. As a result, we expect the Big Bend & Hill Country itinerary to return to our tour schedule in April 2028.
With our expert guides and a wealth of habitats, Field Guides' Texas tours offer an exhilarating birding adventure at every turn.
Photo credit: Our thanks to guide Chris Benesh for the portrait of a Green Jay at the top of this page.
We offer many other USA birding tours, too!