The celebration is a free, family-friendly event that invites participants to discover, enjoy, and learn about the San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge via tours, activities, and exhibits, including Keynote Presentations; Marsh Buggies; Kayaking; Tours: San Bernard Oak Trail, Moccasin Pond, Bobcat Woods, Cedar Lake Creek; Butterfly Encounter; Birds of Prey; Reptile Expo; Touch Tank; and much more.

The Cannan Bend Recreation Area, a unit of the Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge, is a prime birding site for nearctic migrating birds. The unit boasts a 30-acre freshwater lake, a .5-mile trail in old growth, bottomland forest, and acres of prairie and grassland.

Visit our website for more information.

Contact

Friends of Brazoria Wildlife Refuges

770-596-8196

View Organizer Website

lisamyers@refugefriends.org; lisalmyers@gmail.com (Lisa Myers)

Location

San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge

6801 County Road 306
Brazoria, TX 77422

Mark your calendars to attend Galveston Island’s 22nd FeatherFest Birding & Nature Photography Festival during the peak of spring migration. Galveston is one of the top locations in the country for birding because it hosts a diverse variety of habitats in a small geographical area where some 300 species make their permanent or temporary home throughout the year.

Choose from 100+ expert-led birding and nature photography activities to beach, bay, Bolivar Flats, High Island, and more! Go by bus, boat, kayak, electric bike, or drive your own vehicle for our meet-at-site trips.

Come experience spring migration, area charm, history, and hospitality in Galveston.

Pre-festival field trips to be announced.

Contact

Galveston Island Nature Tourism Council

409-789-8125

View Organizer Website

FeatherFest@gintc.org (Julie Ann Brown)

Location

Galveston Railroad Museum

2602 Santa Fe Place
Galveston, TX 77550

Perfect for those seeking superior birding in South Texas, our small-group field trips with expert guides to hotspots and super-premium destinations make this the best way to see a wide variety of specialty birds and migrants.

The Lower Rio Grande Valley has many great birding sites, and Weslaco is certainly one of the valley’s jewels, an ecological crossroad, where subtropical, Gulf Coast, Great Plains, and Chihuahuan desert climates come together. Birds from the Central and Mississippi flyways go right through the area on their way to and from Mexico, Central and South America. Weslaco in the Rio Grande Valley is the primary corridor in the spring for raptor and hawk migration.

Beginner and experienced enthusiasts will enjoy premium field trip locations and exclusive access to private properties. Specialty bird species include Plain and Piebald Chachalacas, Green Jays, hummingbirds, and a number of Mexican species of seasonal migrants which are regularly found here.

Registration open NOW.

Location

Valley Nature Center

301 South Border Ave
Weslaco, TX 78596

Contact

Valley Nature Center

956-969-2475

View Organizer Website

hjohnston@valleynaturecenter.org (Hollie Johnston)

Grab your binoculars and join the Olympic Peninsula BirdFest, at the newly expanded Dungeness River Nature Center (formerly the Dungeness River Audubon Center), Thurs.-Sun., April 11-14, 2024.

 Online registration opens January 1, 2024, at www.olympicbirdfest.org

 Discover the spectacular landscapes of the Olympic Peninsula. Enjoy guided birding trips with local experts in varied habitats, from bays and estuaries along the Strait of Juan de Fuca to the forests of the Dungeness Recreation Area.

 Join a boat tour around a protected island bird sanctuary or for a longer trip to the San Juan Islands or join a car caravan to the Makah Reservation for extraordinary bird-watching and the Makah Cultural & Research Center Museum.

 You just might go home with a new bird for your life list!

 For more information contact the River Center at 360-681-5636 or Info@OlympicBirdFest.org

Matagorda Bay Birdfest is a truly exceptional event and bird celebration. In 2024, there will be expert-guided tours by boat, kayak, and land including tours to Powderhorn Ranch and to the Nature Conservancy’s Mad Island Marsh.

The Matagorda County CBC has been #1 in the bird species count for the Audubon Christmas bird count in 26 of the last 30 years! It is the undiscovered jewel of mid-coast Texas! Our extensive panel of speakers will include many outstanding professionals including speakers from Audubon, Smithsonian, and International Crane Foundation.

Don’t miss the Keynote dinner at the Palacios Pavilion overlooking beautiful Matagorda Bay or the one-of-a-kind Bird Parade along the waterfront that is both fun and fabulous!

Location

Palacios, Texas

901 2nd Street
Palacios, TX 77465

Contact

Matagorda Bay Birdfest

956-285 3234

View Organizer Website

lbeck@becktv.com (Laurie Beck)

The Coastal Bend is the only spot in the United States where the endangered Whooping Crane can be viewed at close range, and the Port Aransas Tourism Bureau & Chamber of Commerce celebrates this astonishing natural wonder with an annual festival honoring these grand birds.

In addition to the Whooping Crane, an awesome array of wintering migratory birds flock into the wetlands and onto the Texas shorelines of Mustang Island in and around Port Aransas. Birding tours by land and sea are highlights during the festival. Visitors of all ages will enjoy the many festivities during the celebration. Free trade show featuring numerous unique vendors. A wide selection of optics, paintings, photography, and one-of-a-kind gift items for the nature lover in all of us will be featured. Other activities include world-renowned speakers, photography workshops, and a variety of field trips.

Location

Port Aransas Civic Center

710 West Ave A
Port Aransas, TX 78373

Contact

Port Aransas Tourism Bureau & Chamber Of Commerce

361-749-5919

View Organizer Website

LShelton@visitportaransas.com (Lisa Shelton)

With a rich and diverse river eco-system, Laredo is home to hundreds of species of local and migratory birds. Laredo is considered part of the “birdiest” corridor in North America. Our prized birds include the Morelet’s Seedeater, Scaled Quail, Gray Hawk, Audubon’s and Altamira Orioles, Green Parakeets, Muscovy Duck, Red-billed Pigeon, and Clay-colored Thrush, among many others.  Laredo is the only place in the U.S. to have boasted four species of kingfisher: the Ringed, Belted, Green and Amazon.

The Laredo Birding Festival offers birders a variety of full-day scenic trips. Planned by the Rio Grande International Study Center and escorted by professional field guides and members of the local Monte Mucho Audubon Society, birdwatchers will have the opportunity to deepen their avian knowledge of South Texas and explore areas along Laredo’s river front, creek systems, and nature trails. Carefully selected public green spaces and private ranchland will provide visitors the chance to visit sites that have never been birded before, while an afternoon trip to St. Peter’s Plaza will give birders a chance to catch Laredo’ local green parakeets in action. Several festival favorites will also return, including “Bird ’til you Drop – Webb County” and two different kayak trips: “Floating Under Flyways I & II” and “Birding on the Rio Grande.”

The 2023 speakers will be:

Robert M. Peck, Curator of Art and Senior Fellow at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia.

CIN-TY LEE, author of numerous articles on challenging identifications, such as pipits, loons, female orioles, pewees, and dowitchers.

CHRISTINA BAAL, bird artist.

Click HERE to view images of Laredo’s prized birds.

Visit our website for more information or call (956) 718-1063.

Location

La Posada Hotel

5928, 1000 Zaragoza St
Laredo, TX 78040

For further information, please go to: http://www.laredobirdingfestival.org/