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List of birds of Big Bend National Park facts for kids

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Welcome to a list of all the amazing bird species found in Big Bend National Park! This special park is located in the U.S. state of Texas. This list helps us keep track of the 411 different kinds of birds that have been seen here.

Scientists group birds into families and orders to help study them. This list follows a system created by the American Ornithological Society (AOS). We've also included common names for bird families from another system called the Clements taxonomy.

Most of the birds on this list live in Big Bend National Park regularly. Some stay all year, while others visit in summer or winter, or just pass through during their migrations. You'll see some special tags next to certain birds:

  • R (Rare): These birds are usually seen only a few times each year.
  • Unc (Uncommon): You might see these birds monthly in the right places and seasons.
  • O (Occasional): These birds show up in the park at least once every few years, but not always every single year.
  • I (Introduced): These are birds that were brought to North America by people, not naturally.

Ducks, Geese, and Waterfowl

Order: Anseriformes Family: Anatidae

This group includes ducks, geese, and swans. These birds are experts at living in water! They have webbed feet for swimming, flat bills for finding food, and special oily feathers that keep them dry.

New World Quail

Order: Galliformes Family: Odontophoridae

New World quails are small, round birds that live on the ground. They look and act like the quails found in other parts of the world, but they are not closely related.

Pheasants, Grouse, and Allies

Order: Galliformes Family: Phasianidae

This family includes pheasants and their relatives. They are ground-dwelling birds that vary in size. Many of these birds are hunted for sport or raised for food.

Grebes

Order: Podicipediformes Family: Podicipedidae

Grebes are small to medium-sized diving birds that live in freshwater. They have special lobed toes that make them excellent swimmers and divers. However, their feet are set far back on their bodies, which makes them clumsy on land.

Pigeons and Doves

Order: Columbiformes Family: Columbidae

Pigeons and doves are birds with sturdy bodies, short necks, and thin bills. They love to eat seeds, fruits, and plants.

Cuckoos

Order: Cuculiformes Family: Cuculidae

The cuckoo family includes cuckoos, roadrunners, and anis. These birds have different sizes, but they all tend to have slender bodies, long tails, and strong legs.

Nightjars and Allies

Order: Caprimulgiformes Family: Caprimulgidae

Nightjars are medium-sized birds that are active at night. They usually build their nests on the ground. They have long wings, short legs, and very small bills. Their soft feathers are colored to help them blend in with tree bark or leaves.

Swifts

Order: Apodiformes Family: Apodidae

Swifts are small birds that spend most of their lives flying. They have very short legs and almost never land on the ground. Instead, they perch on vertical surfaces. Many swifts have long, swept-back wings that look like a crescent moon.

Hummingbirds

Order: Apodiformes Family: Trochilidae

Hummingbirds are tiny birds famous for hovering in the air by flapping their wings super fast. They are the only birds that can fly backward!

Rails, Gallinules, and Coots

Order: Gruiformes Family: Rallidae

This is a big family of small to medium-sized birds like rails, crakes, coots, and gallinules. They usually live in thick plants near lakes, swamps, or rivers. They are often shy and hard to spot. Most have strong legs and long toes, perfect for walking on soft, uneven ground. They tend to have short, rounded wings and aren't very strong fliers.

Cranes

Order: Gruiformes Family: Gruidae

Cranes are large birds with long legs and long necks. Unlike herons, which look similar, cranes fly with their necks stretched out, not pulled back. Many cranes have fancy and loud dancing displays when they are trying to find a mate.

Stilts and Avocets

Order: Charadriiformes Family: Recurvirostridae

This family includes avocets and stilts, which are large wading birds. Avocets have long legs and long bills that curve upwards. Stilts have extremely long legs and long, thin, straight bills.

Plovers and Lapwings

Order: Charadriiformes Family: Charadriidae

This family includes plovers, dotterels, and lapwings. They are small to medium-sized birds with compact bodies, short thick necks, and long, pointed wings. You can find them in open areas all over the world, especially near water.

Sandpipers and Allies

Order: Charadriiformes Family: Scolopacidae

This is a big and varied family of small to medium-sized shorebirds. It includes sandpipers, curlews, godwits, and many others. Most of these birds eat small bugs they find in mud or soil. Their different leg and bill lengths allow many species to feed in the same places without competing for food.

Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers

Order: Charadriiformes Family: Laridae

This family includes gulls, terns, and skimmers. Gulls are usually gray or white with black marks. They have strong, longish bills and webbed feet. Terns are often gray or white with black heads. Most terns catch fish by diving, but some eat insects from the water's surface. Skimmers are tropical birds that look like terns. They have a longer lower beak that they use to skim the water for small fish while flying low.

Loons

Order: Gaviiformes Family: Gaviidae

Loons are water birds about the size of a large duck, but they are not related to ducks. They are mostly gray or black and have spear-shaped bills. Loons are great swimmers and decent fliers, but they are very awkward on land because their legs are placed so far back on their bodies.

Anhingas

Order: Suliformes Family: Anhingidae

Anhingas are water birds that look a bit like cormorants, but they have very long necks and long, straight beaks. They eat fish and often swim with only their neck above the water.

Cormorants and Shags

Order: Suliformes Family: Phalacrocoracidae

Cormorants are medium to large water birds, usually with dark feathers and colorful skin around their faces. They have long, thin, sharply hooked bills. All four of their toes are webbed.

Pelicans

Order: Pelecaniformes Family: Pelecanidae

Pelicans are very large water birds with a unique pouch under their beak. Like other birds in their group, they have four webbed toes.

Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns

Order: Pelecaniformes Family: Ardeidae

This family includes herons, egrets, and bitterns. Herons and egrets are medium to large wading birds with long necks and legs. Bitterns usually have shorter necks and are more secretive. Birds in this family fly with their necks pulled back, which is different from other long-necked birds like storks.

Ibises and Spoonbills

Order: Pelecaniformes Family: Threskiornithidae

This family includes ibises and spoonbills. They have long, wide wings and long bodies with long necks and legs. Their bills are also long; ibises have bills that curve downwards, while spoonbills have straight, flat bills.

New World Vultures

Order: Cathartiformes Family: Cathartidae

New World vultures look like Old World vultures, but they are not closely related. They both eat dead animals. However, New World vultures can smell dead animals, while Old World vultures find them by sight.

Osprey

Order: Accipitriformes Family: Pandionidae

The Osprey family has only one type of bird: the Osprey! This bird of prey eats fish. It has a very large, strong, hooked beak, powerful legs, sharp talons, and amazing eyesight.

  • Osprey, Pandion haliaetus (Unc)

Hawks, Eagles, and Kites

Order: Accipitriformes Family: Accipitridae

This family includes hawks, eagles, kites, and harriers. These birds of prey have very large, strong, hooked beaks for tearing meat from their prey. They also have strong legs, powerful talons, and excellent eyesight.

Barn-Owls

Order: Strigiformes Family: Tytonidae

Owls in this family are medium to large with big heads and unique heart-shaped faces.

Owls

Order: Strigiformes Family: Strigidae

These are the typical or "true" owls. They are usually solitary birds of prey that hunt at night. They have large eyes that face forward, good hearing, a hawk-like beak, and a noticeable circle of feathers around each eye called a facial disk.

Trogons

Order: Trogoniformes Family: Trogonidae

Trogons live in tropical forests around the world, especially in Central America and South America. They eat insects and fruit. Their wide bills and weak legs are suited for their diet and living in trees.

Kingfishers

Order: Coraciiformes Family: Alcedinidae

Kingfishers are medium-sized birds with large heads, long, pointed bills, short legs, and short tails.

Woodpeckers

Order: Piciformes Family: Picidae

Woodpeckers are small to medium-sized birds with chisel-like beaks, short legs, stiff tails, and long tongues for catching insects. Many woodpeckers tap loudly on tree trunks with their beaks.

Falcons and Caracaras

Order: Falconiformes Family: Falconidae

This family includes falcons and caracaras, which are birds of prey active during the day. They are different from hawks and eagles because they kill their prey with their beaks instead of their talons.

Tityras and Allies

Order: Passeriformes Family: Tityridae

Tityridae is a family of small to medium-sized birds found in forests and woodlands in the Neotropics (Central and South America). They were once grouped with other families but are now recognized as their own unique group.

Tyrant Flycatchers

Order: Passeriformes Family: Tyrannidae

Tyrant flycatchers live all over North and South America. They look a bit like flycatchers from other parts of the world, but they are stronger and have sturdier bills. Most of them are insect eaters.

Vireos, Shrike-Babblers, and Erpornis

Order: Passeriformes Family: Vireonidae

Vireos are small to medium-sized birds found only in the New World (Americas). They are usually greenish and look like wood-warblers, but they have stronger bills.

Shrikes

Order: Passeriformes Family: Laniidae

Shrikes are known for catching other birds and small animals. They sometimes impale the parts they don't eat on thorns! A shrike's beak is hooked, just like a bird of prey.

Crows, Jays, and Magpies

Order: Passeriformes Family: Corvidae

This family includes crows, ravens, jays, and magpies. Corvids are larger than average songbirds, and some of the bigger ones are very smart!

Penduline-Tits

Order: Passeriformes Family: Remizidae

The Verdin is the only bird from this family found in the New World. It's one of the smallest songbirds in North America. Verdins eat insects and are usually alone, except when they pair up to build their noticeable nests.

Tits, Chickadees, and Titmice

Order: Passeriformes Family: Paridae

The Paridae family mostly includes small, sturdy woodland birds with short, strong bills. Some have crests on their heads. They are adaptable birds that eat a mix of seeds and insects.

Larks

Order: Passeriformes Family: Alaudidae

Larks are small ground birds known for their often fancy songs and display flights. Most larks don't have very bright colors. They eat insects and seeds.

Swallows

Order: Passeriformes Family: Hirundinidae

This family of birds is built for catching food while flying. They have slender, streamlined bodies, long, pointed wings, and short bills with wide mouths. Their feet are better for perching than walking.

Long-tailed Tits

Order: Passeriformes Family: Aegithalidae

Long-tailed tits are a family of small songbirds with medium to long tails. They build woven, bag-like nests in trees. Most of them eat a mix of insects.

Kinglets

Order: Passeriformes Family: Regulidae

Kinglets are a small family of birds that look a bit like warblers. They are very tiny insect-eating birds. Adult kinglets have colorful crowns on their heads, which is how they got their name.

Waxwings

Order: Passeriformes Family: Bombycillidae

Waxwings are a group of songbirds with soft, silky feathers. They have unique red tips on some of their wing feathers that look like sealing wax, giving them their name. These birds live in northern forests and eat insects in summer and berries in winter.

Silky-Flycatchers

Order: Passeriformes Family: Ptiliogonatidae

Silky-flycatchers are a small family of songbirds found mostly in Central America. They are related to waxwings, and most species have small crests on their heads.

Nuthatches

Order: Passeriformes Family: Sittidae

Nuthatches are small woodland birds. They have a special ability to climb down trees headfirst, which most other birds can't do. Nuthatches have big heads, short tails, and strong bills and feet.

Treecreepers

Order: Passeriformes Family: Certhiidae

Treecreepers are small woodland birds that are brown on top and white underneath. They have thin, pointed, down-curved bills, which they use to pull insects out of tree bark. Like woodpeckers, they have stiff tail feathers that help them support themselves on vertical trees.

Gnatcatchers

Order: Passeriformes Family: Polioptilidae

These delicate birds look and act like some Old World warblers, constantly moving through leaves to find insects. Gnatcatchers are mostly soft bluish-gray and have the long, sharp bill typical of insect-eating birds. Many species have distinct black patterns on their heads (especially males) and long, black-and-white tails that they often hold upright.

Wrens

Order: Passeriformes Family: Troglodytidae

Wrens are small and often hard to see, but they have very loud songs! They have short wings and thin, down-curved bills. Several species often hold their tails straight up. All wrens eat insects.

Mockingbirds and Thrashers

Order: Passeriformes Family: Mimidae

This family includes thrashers, mockingbirds, and catbirds. These birds are famous for their amazing songs and their ability to copy many other bird calls and outdoor sounds. They usually have dull gray and brown feathers.

Starlings

Order: Passeriformes Family: Sturnidae

Starlings are small to medium-sized birds from the Old World (Europe, Asia, Africa) with strong feet. They fly strongly and directly, and most live in large groups. They prefer open areas and eat insects and fruit. Many species have dark feathers with a shiny, metallic look.

Dippers

Order: Passeriformes Family: Cinclidae

Dippers are a group of perching birds that live near water in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. These birds have special adaptations that let them dive underwater and walk on the bottom to find insect larvae to eat.

Thrushes and Allies

Order: Passeriformes Family: Turdidae

Thrushes are a group of songbirds found mostly in the Old World. They are plump, with soft feathers, and are small to medium-sized. They eat insects or sometimes a mix of things, often feeding on the ground. Many thrushes have beautiful songs.

Olive Warbler

Order: Passeriformes Family: Peucedramidae

The olive warbler has a gray body with some olive-green on its wings and two white bars on its wings. The male's head and chest are orange, and it has a black patch through its eye. This is the only bird in its family!

Old World Sparrows

Order: Passeriformes Family: Passeridae

Old World sparrows are small songbirds. They are generally small, plump, brownish or grayish birds with short tails and strong, short beaks. Sparrows eat seeds, but they also eat small insects.

Wagtails and Pipits

Order: Passeriformes Family: Motacillidae

This family includes wagtails and pipits. They are small songbirds with medium to long tails. They are slender birds that find insects on the ground in open areas.

Finches, Euphonias, and Allies

Order: Passeriformes Family: Fringillidae

Finches are songbirds that eat seeds. They are small to medium-sized and have strong beaks, usually shaped like a cone. All finches have twelve tail feathers and nine main flight feathers. These birds fly with a bouncing motion, alternating between flapping and gliding with their wings closed. Most finches sing well.

Longspurs and Snow Buntings

Order: Passeriformes Family: Calcariidae

This group of songbirds was once thought to be part of the New World sparrows. However, they are different in several ways and are usually found in open, grassy areas.

New World Sparrows

Order: Passeriformes Family: Passerellidae

Until 2017, these birds were grouped with another family. Most of them are called sparrows, but they are not closely related to the Old World sparrows. Many of these birds have unique patterns on their heads.

Yellow-breasted Chat

Order: Passeriformes Family: Icteriidae

This bird was once thought to be a wood-warbler, but now scientists have given it its own family!

Troupials and Allies

Order: Passeriformes Family: Icteridae

This group includes grackles, New World blackbirds, and New World orioles. They are small to medium-sized songbirds found only in the Americas. Most species have black as their main feather color, often brightened with yellow, orange, or red.

New World Warblers

Order: Passeriformes Family: Parulidae

Wood-warblers are a group of small, often colorful songbirds found only in the Americas. Most live in trees, but some prefer the ground. Most birds in this family eat insects.

Cardinals and Allies

Order: Passeriformes Family: Cardinalidae

Cardinals are a family of strong, seed-eating birds with powerful bills. They usually live in open woodlands. Males and females often have different feather colors.

See also

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List of birds of Big Bend National Park Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.