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WINGS Birding Tours – Photo Gallery

Texas: The Rio Grande Valley in Winter

Including Whooping Cranes

South Texas is small slice of the tropics nestled in the US. With stunning birds like Green Jay… Image: Jian Cai 2020
…and the boisterous Great Kiskadees, it feels much like Mexico. Image: Jian Cai 2020
Waterfowl includes Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks with their comical appearance.
Some valley specialties are resident like Clay-colored Thrush …
… audible Audubon’s Orioles …
… and gaudy Altamira Orioles lighting up the trees.
We’ll scour dense thickets in hopes of finding Black-crested Titmouse … Image: Jake Mohlmann
… wintering White-eyed Vireos …
… the always cryptic Olive Sparrow …
… and perfectly hidden Common Pauraque in the leaf litter.
We’ll keep an eye out for roosting owls like this Eastern Screech, alway gray phase here.
One evening we’ll visit a parrot roost, where noncountable species such as this Yellow-headed Parrot …
… join established species like Green Parakeet.
Great-tailed Grackles are beautiful, and everywhere, along with …
… bright pink Pyrrhuloxias …
… and a smattering of Loggerhead Shrikes.
The raptor show should be memorable with close looks at both Harris’s Hawk …
… the abundant Crested Caracara …
… and perhaps a rarity like Roadside Hawk; always a possibility.
Time will be spent on the banks of the Rio Grande River …
… with fingers crossed for a glimpse at Green Kingfisher …
… wading Little Blue Herons …
… a sunning Neotropic Cormorant already in breeding plumage …
… or a vagrant such as Gray-crowned Yellowthroat.
The west edge of the valley gives way to drier habitat with birds like Greater Roadrunner … photo by Jake Mohlmann
… terrestrial White-tipped Doves …
… and we’ll make a special effort to locate the shy Morelet’s Seedeater.
Everyone is always excited by their first Javelinas!
We’ll spent time at the coast, the preferred habitat of Aplomado Falcons …
… which we may see while scanning wetlands …
… for Roseate Spoonbills and Reddish Egrets, here a white phase.
Staying quiet will ensure encounters with marshbirds like Sora …
… and get us close to flocks of gulls, terns and Black Skimmers on the beaches.
We’ll never be far from a Ringed Kingfisher. Image: Jake Mohlmann
… and constantly be reminded South Texas is not just about the birds, here a Thornbush Dasher …
… and the pretty Zebra Longwing.
A boat trip out to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge …
… may pass a perched Peregrine Falcon …
… but ultimately gets us close to foraging Whooping Cranes …
… that spend the winter in family groups searching for blue crabs.

 

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