NPS/Big Bend National Park

The Chisos Mountains provide ideal habitat for the Black-capped vireo.

Chisos Woodlands
Best known of these is the Colima warbler that summers in the high canyons of the Chisos Mountains and south in less accessible mountainous areas of Mexico. It arrives in the Chisos in mid-April and departs for its wintering grounds in southwestern Mexico by mid-September. In wet years, the Colima, is common down to about 5,900 feet. A high of one hundred and sixty-six individuals was counted in an early May census in 1969. A ground-nester, it prefers the oak-maple environment of Boot Canyon and similar high, cool niches from Laguna Meadow to Boot Canyon and the South Rim. From May through mid-July, it is easily detected by its rapid, melodic song. But its songs become less frequent as the summer progresses.

Other breeding birds of the high Chisos canyons that are likely to be seen include the band-tailed pigeon, the white-throated swift, Rivoli's and blue-throated hummingbirds, the common flicker, the acorn woodpecker, the western flycatcher, the white-breasted nuthatch, and the canyon wren. Watch for the golden eagle among the many turkey vultures overhead; and, if you search carefully, you can usually find a zone-tailed hawk over the ridges of lower Boot Canyon. Camp overnight in Boot Canyon if you wish to see the night birds. Usually it is not too difficult to find both the screech and the flammulated owls, as well as the whippoorwill there after dark.

Although the Boot Canyon vicinity contains a number of unique trees and shrubs, such as Arizona cypress, Douglas-fir, Texas madrone, and a number of Chisos oaks, the area which surrounds the canyon is more typical of the widespread pinyon-juniper-oak woodlands. This is the most extensive woodland zone in the park and occurs from 4,500 feet to near the summit of Emory Peak (7,832'), the highest point in the Chisos. Although bird life in these woodlands becomes relatively scarce during the June and July dry period (which follows the initial spring blooming and nesting season In April and May), the summer rainy season of August and September produces a second flowering period as well as another nesting cycle. Many bird species do not nest, particularly in dry years, until August and September when there is an abundance of seeds and insects.

Common nesting birds of the pinyon-juniper-oak woodlands include the broad-tailed hummingbird, the ash-throated flycatcher, the gray-breasted Jay, the tufted titmouse, the bushtit (both color phases), the Bewick's wren, the blue-gray gnatcatcher, the brown-headed cowbird, the black-headed grosbeak, the spotted and brown towhees, and the rufous-crowned sparrow. Less numerous are the poor-will, Hutton's vireo, and the hepatic tanager.

NPS/Big Bend National Park

Pyrrhuloxia is commonly found in desert elevations.

Grasslands/Desert Scrub
Below the mountain woodlands are the grasslands and the desert scrub. Fingers of these zones extend into many parts of the mountains, therefore birds that prefer these habitats are often found quite high on the mountain slopes. As an example, Laguna Meadow, at 6,300 feet contains a desert-like environment along its western and northern edges. There you can find nesting the crissal thrasher and the black-chinned sparrow. In wet summers, the Colima warbler has been found nesting in the cool canyon adjacent to the trail just below the meadow.

The desert scrub-grassland zone circles the Chisos Mountains and forms an irregular band between 1,800 and 4,500 feet. This is the area which supported the famous West Texas cattle country of the late 1800s and early 1900s. By the 1920s, much of this land had been so badly abused that the lush grasslands were depleted and the desert scrub had invaded high into the Chisos foothills. This condition still exists today. However, the grasslands have made progress in recent years and now occur in places down to 3,200 feet.

The Window Trail below the Basin campground offers the birder an interesting smorgasbord of higher desert scrub and grasslands interspersed with oaks, pinyons, and junipers. An early-morning hike to the Window in the summer almost always produces such avian species as the ladder-backed woodpecker, Say's phoebe, Bewick's and cactus wrens, the mockingbird, Scott's oriole, the pyrrhuloxia, the blue grosbeak, the brown towhee, and black-chinned and rufous crowned sparrows. Less numerous are the gray vireo and the varied bunting. Almost all of the same species can be found in the lower Green Gulch area as well. The scaled quail, the common raven, the black-tailed gnatcatcher, and Cassin's and black-throated sparrows can usually be found there, too.

Christy Clemons

Black-crowned night heron at Rio Grande Village.

Along the River
Big Bend's Chihuahuan Shrub Desert extends down into the lowest parts of the park. It is not until you reach the river or one of the isolated springs that lie scattered over the desert that another habitat and a different group of nesting birds can be found. The floodplain occurs adjacent to the Rio and throughout its entire length except where sheer walls or artificial devices introduced by man make it otherwise. A few groves of cottonwood, tamarisk, and willow occur at springs and where the river channel has deserted an old terrace. The localities of riparian growth such as the flats below Castolon and at Rio Grande Village are excellent birding places. Common nesters there include the mourning dove, the yellow-billed cuckoo, the black-chinned hummingbird, the ladder-backed woodpecker, Bell's vireo, the yellowthroat, the yellow-breasted chat, the brown-headed cowbird, the orchard oriole, the summer tanager, the cardinal, the blue grosbeak, and the painted bunting. Less common but present in small numbers are the white-winged and ground doves, the screech-owls and the elf owl, the vermilion flycatcher, and the hooded oriole.

Crissal Thrasher

As you can readily see, Big Bend is truly a birder's paradise. So grab your binoculars, your bird book, your checklist, and start looking. Please report any birds that are unusual, either in location or in time of year, at the nearest visitor center.

Happy Birding!