Birding at Its Best

Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail

By Patricia Sharpe

Winged lightning—now that's my idea of a hummingbird. But at the Hummer/Bird Celebration in Rockport and Fulton, Texas, hummingbirds occasionally slow down and sit still. Last September I stood within 10 feet of a dazzling male rubythroat as it perched on a fence and brazenly flashed me. The little pig had gorged itself at multiple feeders and was so zonked it didn't care that 200 other hummingbirds—not to mention 30 birdwatchers—were also in the yard. The celebration, which occurs during hummingbird migration, is quite a scene. But for me it was merely the first stop on a much-anticipated drive along the richest birdwatching route in the country, the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail.

Inaugurated in 1996 as the first such itinerary in the country, this driving trail consists of the route, the highway signs, and the maps. The route includes more than 300 birding sites that dot more than 700 miles of Texas coastline, from the Louisiana border to the Rio Grande, each of them identified by a sign bearing the silhouette of a black skimmer. Some of the sites are small, like the famous 48-acre Smith Oaks owned by the Houston Audubon Society, where a jewel box of migrating warblers, orioles, and tanagers congregate each spring. Others are large, such as the 70,000-acre Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, where endangered whooping cranes spend their winters. Using a trio of beautifully illustrated road maps developed by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, even novice birders can start seeing some of the 620 species that visit or live in the state.

The trail is the result of an "aha" moment that occurred about a decade ago, when some very smart people in Texas figured out that nature tourism was a goose that could provide the state's economy with a never-ending supply of golden eggs. "A lot of the sites featured are very rural and remote, and the diversified income of tourist dollars benefits their economies without changing their lifestyles," says Linda Campbell, nature-tourism coordinator for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. "You can see the impact at those places pretty quick." For example, visitors to the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge in far south Texas spent an estimated $36.5 million on lodging, meals, gas, and other purchases in 1999. In Rockport and Fulton, with a combined population of only 8,500, birding contributes an estimated $5 million to the economy annually; the Hummer/Bird Celebration alone brought in $1 million last year. In urban areas like Dallas and Houston, the economic benefits of birdwatching may be less dramatic because it is a far smaller part of tourism in general. But overall the dollars add up. In 1996, the most recent year for which figures are available, wildlife watching of all types contributed $1.2 billion to the state's economy.

Now that the trail concept has proved itself along the Texas coast, two more maps are under way for the heart of Texas and its high plains, and sites are being selected for a third "prairies and piney woods" trail in the state's northern and eastern parts. These new trails highlight all kinds of wildlife, and I can hardly wait until they're finished. I might be on a driving trip and get a sudden urge to see a ring-tailed cat or a flock of white pelicans. With the maps in my glove compartment, I'll know exactly where these creatures live.

Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail
by Patricia Sharpe

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by Doreen Cubie/photography by Kim Hubbard

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Great Washington Birding Trail
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