Lower Rio Grande Valley - Texas
April 7-15, 2012
It has become a tradition. We begin our tour of the Lower Rio Grande Valley with an Aplomado Falcon. We got amazing looks at a pair at a nest. And we ended, after an evening with Red-crowned Parrots and Green Parakeets, with the 10 of us happily gathered around a supper table of tortillas and beans, mollejas y pollo, beer and wine, laughter and memories from a spectacular week. Along the way we encountered 200 bird species.
This outing included 27 species of shorebird, seven tern species (not including Black Skimmer), 15 raptor species and all three regularly occuring North American kingfishers (including drop-dead gorgeous looks at Green Kingfisher).
At Bentsen Rio Grande State Park, thousands of hawks rose together from the forests around us late one morning. Farther west, Cassin’s Sparrows floated and sang above a field in their elegant flight displays. A singing male Tropical Parula only 10 feet away was among the many highlights. So was White-collared Seedeater (a North American lifer for Bryan) in the town of Zapata. We even saw a six-foot-long (at least) rattlesnake.
Here's a trip list:
DUCKS, GEESE, and SWANS
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Fulvous Whistling-Duck
Canada Goose
Muscovy Duck
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Green-winged Teal
Redhead
Bufflehead
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
CURASSOWS and GUANS
Plain Chachalaca
NEW WORLD QUAIL
Scaled Quail
Northern Bobwhite
GREBES
Least Grebe
Pied-billed Grebe
PELICANS
American White Pelican
Brown Pelican
CORMORANTS
Neotropic Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
DARTERS
Anhinga
BITTERNS, HERONS, and ALLIES
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Reddish Egret
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
IBISES and SPOONBILLS
White Ibis
White-faced Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill
NEW WORLD VULTURES
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
KITES, HAWKS, EAGLES
Osprey
Hook-billed Kite
White-tailed Kite
Mississippi Kite
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper’s Hawk
Harris’s Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Broad-winged Hawk
Gray Hawk
Swainson’s Hawk
White-tailed Hawk
CARACARAS and FALCONS
Crested Caracara
American Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon
Aplomado Falcon
RAILS, GALLINULES, and COOTS
Clapper Rail
Common Moorhen
American Coot
PLOVERS
Black-bellied Plover
American Golden-Plover
Wilson’s Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Killdeer
STILTS and AVOCETS
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
SANDPIPERS
Spotted Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Willet
Lesser Yellowlegs
Upland Sandpiper
Whimbrel
Long-billed Curlew
Marbled Godwit
Ruddy Turnstone
Red Knot
Sanderling
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Western Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Baird’s Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Stilt Sandpiper
Buff-breasted Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher
Long-billed Dowitcher
GULLS, TERNS, and SKIMMERS
Laughing Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Least Tern
Gull-billed Tern
Caspian Tern
Common Tern
Forster’s Tern
Royal Tern
Sandwich Tern
Black Skimmer
PIGEONS and DOVES
Rock Pigeon
Red-billed Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
White-winged Dove
Mourning Dove
Inca Dove
Common Ground-Dove
White-tipped Dove
PARAKEETS and PARROTS
Green Parakeet
Red-crowned Parrot
CUCKOOS, ROADRUNNERS, and ANIS
Greater Roadrunner
OWLS
Eastern Screech-Owl
Elf Owl
GOATSUCKERS
Lesser Nighthawk
SWIFTS
Chimney Swift
HUMMINGBIRDS
Buff-bellied Hummingbird
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
KINGFISHERS
Ringed Kingfisher
Belted Kingfisher
Green Kingfisher
WOODPECKERS
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
FLYCATCHERS
Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet
Willow Flycatcher
Black Phoebe
Ash-throated Flycatcher
Brown-crested Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Tropical Kingbird
Couch’s Kingbird
Western Kingbird
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
SHRIKES
Loggerhead Shrike
VIREOS
White-eyed Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
JAYS, MAGPIES, and CROWS
Green Jay
Chihuahuan Raven
LARKS
Horned Lark
SWALLOWS
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Bank Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Cave Swallow
Barn Swallow
CHICKADEES and TITMICE
Black-crested Titmouse
VERDIN
Verdin
WRENS
Cactus Wren
Carolina Wren
Bewick’s Wren
House Wren
Marsh Wren
GNATCATCHERS
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
THRUSHES
Swainson’s Thrush
Clay-colored Thrush
MOCKINGBIRDS, THRASHERS
Northern Mockingbird
Long-billed Thrasher
Curve-billed Thrasher
STARLINGS and ALLIES
European Starling
WAXWINGS
Cedar Waxwing
WARBLERS
Nashville Warbler
Northern Parula
Tropical Parula
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Prothonotary Warbler
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow-breasted Chat
NEW WORLD SPARROWS and ALLIES
White-collared Seedeater
Olive Sparrow
Green-tailed Towhee
Cassin’s Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Clay-colored Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
Lark Sparrow
Black-throated Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Lincoln’s Sparrow
CARDINALS, GROSBEAKS, and ALLIES
Northern Cardinal
Pyrrhuloxia
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Blue Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Summer Tanager
Scarlet Tanager
BLACKBIRDS and ALLIES
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Great-tailed Grackle
Bronzed Cowbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Orchard Oriole
Hooded Oriole
Bullock’s Oriole
Altamira Oriole
Audubon’s Oriole
FINCHES and ALLIES
House Finch
Lesser Goldfinch
OLD WORLD SPARROWS
House Sparrow
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