Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail

NEWS FLASH! According to Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, Jackson County now has EIGHT viable bald eagles' nests!

The Great Texas Coastal

Birding Trail

The Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail has been called one of the most important birding habitat networks in North America. The 500 mile route, stretching along the Texas Gulf Coast from north of Beaumont to the Rio Grande Valley, establishes viewing areas at feeding, roosting and nesting points, thereby encouraging the preservation of woods and wetlands for both migrating and endemic bird species.

The trail, which is the first of its kind in the United States, also offers bird watchers from around the world excellent opportunities to observe birds intersecting along two major migration flyways. With an avian species count of nearly 600, Texas ranks high in the nature tourism circuits.

Jackson County has nine sites included in the Central Coast Section of the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail, providing a wide variety of bird species for the amateur or avid bird watcher.

A birding drive through the back roads of Jackson County during the winter can also turn up eagles hunting the many harvested rice fields. If you are visiting Jackson County during the winter, a day spent searching for eagles is an experience worth the effort.

Information on the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail is available at the Chamber of Commerce Office. Additional information on the Birding Trails of Texas is available from Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, 4200 Smith School Road, Austin, TX 78744-3291, 800-792-1112, www.tpwd.state.tx.us.