Places

Where we photograph birds. Most of it is Central Texas, a short drive from home, with a few trips farther out.

Birding in Texas and Austin

Texas has a state list of 682 bird species, as of October 2026. Austin sits on the Central Flyway, one of the four major bird migration routes.

The city also sits on the Balcones Escarpment, which formed along a fault zone about 40 million years ago. To the west is an uplifted limestone plateau of steep, rocky hills. To the east is the flat Blackland Prairie. Each side has its own birds, and many species reach the edge of their range here. The Golden-fronted Woodpecker, a western bird, is at its eastern limit, and the eastern Red-bellied Woodpecker is near the edge of its nesting range.

More than 400 species have been recorded within 60 miles of Austin. We have logged 315 checklists and 222 species in Texas since 2022, 294 of those checklists in Travis County. These are the five places we go back to most.

Sources: Texas Bird Records Committee, TPWD, Birds of the Austin area

Windy Point, Lake Travis

Bob Wentz Park at Windy Point, Travis County

What it is: A 211-acre Travis County park on Lake Travis. Most visitors come to sail, windsurf, swim, or scuba dive.
Habitat: An open, rocky lake shoreline. Travis Audubon suggests scanning the rocks here for shorebirds in July.
What to look for: Travis Audubon names Windy Point, with the Hornsby Bend ponds, as one of the best places for shorebirds in August. Western, Semipalmated, and Least Sandpipers are among the more common that month. Killdeer were on 52 of our 59 checklists here. We logged Ospreys on 21, about half of them in October and November, and Scissor-tailed Flycatchers on 30, from March to October.
Tip: Open daily 8 am to 6 pm, with no new entries in the last 30 minutes. Entry is $5 a person, $3 for seniors 62 and up, and free for children 12 and under. The entrance booth takes cash only.

59 of our eBird checklists127 species on them63 photos here

We photographed Killdeer, Canyon Wren, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Great Blue Heron, Baird's Sandpiper, and 23 more.

Sources: Travis County Parks, Travis Audubon, July, Travis Audubon, August

River Place Trail

River Place Nature Trail, from Woodland Park

What it is: A nature trail in the hills of the River Place neighborhood, west of Austin. It is about 6 miles there and back, with more than 900 log steps on packed dirt.
Habitat: Limestone cliffs and woods of live oak, Spanish oak, and Ashe juniper, along a creek with low waterfalls.
What to look for: Golden-fronted Woodpeckers were on 16 of our 25 checklists here. Red-eyed and White-eyed Vireos were on our lists from March to August, and Summer Tanagers from May to September. We photographed a Golden-fronted and a Red-bellied Woodpecker here on the same April afternoon.
Tip: Start at the Woodland Park trailhead, by the pond, and follow the boardwalk into the woods. The trail is closed to cyclists.

25 of our eBird checklists51 species on them3 photos here

We photographed Golden-fronted Woodpecker and Red-bellied Woodpecker.

Sources: Austin Fit Magazine, 2015, TPWD, Birds of the Austin area

Places

Birding in Texas and Austin

Windy Point, Lake Travis

Photographed at Windy Point, Lake Travis

Killdeer

Canyon Wren

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

Great Blue Heron

Baird's Sandpiper

Spotted Sandpiper

American Avocet

Vermilion Flycatcher

Yellow-billed Duck x Mallard (hybrid)

Philippine Duck

Piping Plover

Egyptian Goose

River Place Trail

Photographed at River Place Trail

Golden-fronted Woodpecker

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Hornsby Bend

Photographed at Hornsby Bend

Lesser Yellowlegs

Black-necked Stilt

Least Sandpiper

Semipalmated Sandpiper

Wilson's Phalarope

Red-winged Blackbird

Baird's Sandpiper

Yellow-headed Blackbird

Pectoral Sandpiper

American Coot

Blue-winged Teal

Least Flycatcher

Commons Ford Ranch

Photographed at Commons Ford Ranch

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

Dickcissel

Painted Bunting

Least Flycatcher

Red-tailed Hawk

Eastern Bluebird

Eastern Kingbird

Northern Cardinal

Grasshopper Sparrow

Northern Mockingbird

Baltimore Oriole

Mills Pond, Wells Branch

Photographed at Mills Pond, Wells Branch

Yellow-crowned Night Heron

Downy Woodpecker

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Black-and-white Warbler

Blue Jay

Carolina Chickadee

Cooper's Hawk

American Robin

Around Austin

Muscovy Duck (Domestic type)

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck

Yellow-crowned Night Heron

House Sparrow

Canyon Wren

Painted Bunting

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Northern Cardinal

Red-eyed Vireo

Summer Tanager

Swainson's Thrush

Lesser Goldfinch

Great Crested Flycatcher

Iceland

Atlantic Puffin

European Golden-Plover

Sanderling

Common Eider

Common Ringed Plover

Common Raven

Redwing

White Wagtail