Big Bend National Park is the most bio-diverse park in the entire system. Within its boundaries, one finds more species of butterflies, bats, reptiles, plants, ants and birds. Over 450 avian species either live in Big Bend National Park, or migrate through at some point in the year. The variety of habitat with desert mountain and river makes for ideal conditions for a truly remarkable diversity.

Big Bend marks the western limits of the ranges of many eastern species and the eastern most extent of many western species. In addition, the Rio Grande is an important feature on migratory flyways.

Big Bend Birding Resources

Bird Checklist
Birding Hot Spots

A few of the birds that typically don’t occur in other parts of the U.S., or are easier to find in the Big Bend area include the Colima Warbler (photo below), Lucifer Hummingbird, Band-tailed Pigeon, Varied Bunting, Flammulated Owl, Elf Owl, Mexican Jay, Black-chinned Sparrow, Green Kingfisher, Pyrrhuloxia, and Crissal Thrasher, to name a few.

Colima Warbler