Beyond birds, Texas serves up some of the continent's great wildlife shows - bats by the million, five-foot cranes,
a wild bison herd, gators, and a river of butterflies. Much of it is easy and free.
The spectacles
Some of the most stunning wildlife watching in Texas isn't birds at all - and much of it is easy and free.
Bats
At dusk from about mid-March through October, up to 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats stream out from under Austin's Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge - the largest urban bat colony in the world - and it's free to watch from the bridge or the lakeshore. For the ultimate version, Bracken Cave near San Antonio holds the largest bat colony in the world (15-20 million bats, protected by Bat Conservation International, viewing by reservation). Clarity Tunnel at Caprock Canyons is a third great spot. Heads up: a bat emergence is never guaranteed - cold, wind, or rain changes the timing - so check the site's info before you go.
The last wild migratory flock of these endangered, five-foot-tall cranes winters on the Texas coast around Aransas (roughly November-March). Boat tours from Rockport and Port Aransas get you a look, and the Whooping Crane Festival in Port Aransas celebrates them each February. It's one of conservation's great comeback stories - from about 15 birds in the 1940s to over 500 today.
Caprock Canyons State Park in the Panhandle is home to the Texas State Bison Herd - descendants of the Goodnight Herd, gathered in the 1870s and carrying the genetic markers of the last Southern Plains bison. The managed herd ranges across the park and is often visible right from the road.
Easy to see from a safe distance at Brazos Bend State Park near Houston (250+ gators) and across the coastal marshes and East Texas wetlands. Keep at least 30 feet back and never feed them.
Texas is the funnel for the eastern monarch migration - the fall flyways converge into a single corridor through the state. In fall (late September into November) millions stream south toward their wintering grounds in Mexico.
Bats come from TPWD and Bat Conservation International; whooping cranes from TPWD and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service; the bison and alligators from TPWD's state parks; monarchs from TPWD.
