Trinity River

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Birds of Trinity River National Wildlife Refuge Established in 1994, the 25,000-acre Trinity River National Wildlife Refuge is a remnant of what was once a much larger, frequently flooded, bottomland hardwood forest. You are still able to view vast expanses of ridge and swale floodplain features, numerous bayous, oxbow lakes, and cypress/tupelo swamps along the Trinity River. It is one of only 14 priority-one bottomland sites identified for protection in the Texas Bottomland Protection Plan. This type of habitat is used during migration or nesting by nearly 50 percent of the migratory bird species listed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Over 275 species of birds occur in the hardwood forest and associated wetlands in eastern Texas; while over 100 bird species are known to breed there. These forests also support a wide diversity of mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and fish including the federally listed alligator. For more information, please visit our website: www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/ texas/trinityriver This 214 species list is in accordance with the 7th edition (1998) A.O.U. checklist through the July 2011 Supplement. The refuge a varied habitat and warm climate for excellent birding year round. Birding on the refuge is most interesting during the winter months. Fourteen species of sparrows winter on the refuge and fifteen species of wading birds nest here. Birdwatchers are treated to a spectacular Swallow-tailed kite © Shannon Tomkins/Houston Chronicle variety of more than 50 migrants including 25 warbler species during the spring and fall migration. During a “fallout” which typically occurs after a rainy cold front, lucky birders may view dozens of species of neotropical migrants. Contact the Refuge staff if you should find an unlisted or rare species during your visit and provide a description. Federally Endangered or Threatened Species are listed in italics. Common Name Ducks, Geese, and Swans ___Black-bellied Whistling-Duck ___Greater White-fronted Goose ___Snow Goose ___Ross’s Goose ___Canada Goose ___Wood Duck ___Gadwall ___American Wigeon ___Mallard ___Mottled Duck ___Blue-winged Teal ___Northern Shoveler ___Northern Pintail ___Green-winged Teal ___Redhead ___Ring-necked Duck ___Lesser Scaup ___Hooded Merganser ___Ruddy Duck Turkeys ___Wild Turkey Grebes ___Pied-billed Grebe Storks ___Wood Stork Cormorants ___Neotropic Cormorant ___Double-crested Cormorant Darters ___Anhinga Common Name Pelicans ___American White Pelican ___Brown Pelican Herons, Bitterns, and Allies ___American Bittern ___Least Bittern ___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 Hawks, Kites, Eagles, and Allies ___Osprey ___Swallow-tailed Kite ___Mississippi Kite ___Bald Eagle ___Northern Harrier ___Sharp-shinned Hawk ___Cooper’s Hawk ___Red-shouldered Hawk ___Broad-winged Hawk ___Swainson’s Hawk ___Red-tailed Hawk Caracaras and Falcons ___Crested Caracara ___American Kestrel ___Merlin ___Peregrine Falcon Rails and Coots ___Sora ___Purple Gallinule ___Common Gallinule ___American Coot Cranes ___Sandhill Crane Plovers ___Piping Plover ___Killdeer Stilts and Avocets ___Black-necked Stilt Sandpipers, Phalaropes, and Allies ___Spotted Sandpiper ___Greater Yellowlegs ___Lesser Yellowlegs ___Upland Sandpiper ___Western Sandpiper ___Least Sandpiper ___Baird’s Sandpiper ___Long-billed Dowitcher ___Wilson’s Snipe ___American Woodcock Northern parula © Paul Gregg Common Name Gulls and Terns ___Bonaparte’s Gull ___Laughing Gull ___Ring-billed Gull ___Least Tern ___Caspian Tern ___Foster’s Tern ___Royal Tern Pigeons and Doves ___Rock Pigeon ___Eurasian Collared-Dove ___White-winged Dove ___Mourning Dove ___Inca Dove Cuckoos ___Yellow-billed Cuckoo Typical Owls ___Eastern Screech-Owl ___Great Horned Owl ___Barred Owl Goatsuckers ___Common Nighthawk ___Chuck-will’s Widow Swifts ___Chimney Swift Hummingbirds ___Buff-bellied Hummingbird ___Ruby-throated Hummingbird Kingfishers ___Belted Kingfisher ___Green Kingfisher** Woodpeckers and Allies ___Red-headed Woodpecker ___Red-bellied Woodpecker ___Yellow-bellied Sapsucker ___Downy Woodpecker ___Hairy Woodpecker ___Northern Flicker ___Pileated Woodpecker Tyrant Flycatchers ___Olive-sided Flycatcher ___Eastern Wood-Pewee ___Acadian Flycatcher ___Least Flycatcher ___Eastern Phoebe ___Vermilion Flycatcher ___Ash-throated Flycatcher ___Great Crested Flycatcher ___Eastern Kingbird ___Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Shrikes ___Loggerhead Shrike Vireos ___White-eyed Vireo ___Yellow-throated Vireo ___Blue-headed Vireo ___Warbling Vireo ___Red-eyed Vireo Common Name Crows and Jays ___Blue Jay ___American Crow Swallows ___Purple Martin ___Tree Swallow ___Northern Rough-winged Swallow ___Bank Swallow ___Cliff Swallow ___Barn Swallow Chickadees and Titmice ___Carolina Chickadee ___Tufted Titmouse Nuthatches ___Red-breasted Nuthatch ___Brown-headed Nuthatch Creepers ___Brown Creeper Wrens ___Carolina Wren ___Bewick’s Wren ___House Wren ___Winter Wren ___Sedge Wren ___Marsh Wren Gnatcatchers ___Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Kinglets ___Golden-crowned Kinglet ___Ruby-crowned Kinglet Thrushes ___Eastern Bluebird ___Hermit Thrush ___Wood Thrush ___American Robin Mockingbirds and Thrashers ___Gray Catbird ___Northern Mockingbird ___Brown Thrasher Starlings ___European Starling Pipits ___American Pipit Waxwings ___Cedar Waxwing Warblers ___Louisiana Waterthrush ___Northern Waterthrush ___Blue-winged Warbler ___Black-and-white Warbler ___Prothonotary Warbler ___Swainson’s Warbler ___Tennessee Warbler ___Orange-crowned Warbler ___Mourning Warbler ___Kentucky Warbler ___Common Yellowthroat ___Hooded Warbler ___American Redstart ___Cerulean Warbler Common Name ___Northern Parula ___Blackburnian Warbler ___Yellow Warbler ___Chestnut-sided Warbler ___Pine Warbler ___Yellow-rumped Warbler ___Yellow-throated Warbler ___Canada Warbler ___Wilson’s Warbler ___Yellow-breasted Chat Towhees, Sparrows, and Allies ___Eastern Towhee ___Chipping Sparrow ___Field Sparrow ___Vesper Sparrow ___Savannah Sparrow ___Henslow’s Sparrow ___Le Conte’s Sparrow ___Fox Sparrow ___Song Sparrow ___Lincoln’s Sparrow ___Swamp Sparrow ___White-throated Sparrow ___White-crowned Sparrow ___Dark-eyed Junco Tanagers, Cardinals, Grosbeaks, Buntings ___Summer Tanager ___Scarlet Tanager ___Northern Cardinal ___Rose-breasted Grosbeak ___Blue Grosbeak ___Indigo Bunting ___Painted Bunting Blackbirds ___Red-winged Blackbird ___Eastern Meadowlark ___Rusty Blackbird ___Brewer’s Blackbird ___Common Grackle ___Great-tailed Grackle ___Brown-headed Cowbird ___Orchard Oriole ___Baltimore Oriole Finches and Allies ___Purple Finch ___Pine Siskin ___American Goldfinch Old World Sparrow ___House Sparrow ** Accidental Update September 2011 Prothonotary Warbler use nest cavities in bottomland hardwood trees to rear young. Garry Tucker/USFWS