Naturally Curious about Texas' Lower Rio Grande Valley? Our recommendations for local field guides and sources

Whether you are curious about birds, butterflies, dragonflies, plants or history, Texas' Lower Rio Grande Valley (the Valley), where Texas, Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico meet will fascinate you!  Because of the Mexican species moving north, the migration flyways, the Chihuahuan Desert edge and the coastal habitats there is plenty to see.  The following list of field guides can be ordered on-line, or you can find them in any of our Valley partner stores while you are there:

What do you want to study?   Birds/ Bird Finding   Butterflies    Flora     Gulf      History

Bird Guides:  Are you wondering which of your bird guides to bring to the Lower Rio Grande Valley?  The newer the guide, the better your chances that more of the Mexican vagrants will be included.  The most useful national guides are National Geographic's Birds of North America, Kaufman Focus Guide-Birds of North America, Sibley Guide to Birds of North America.  If you are traveling to the Valley because of Mexican vagrants, there are three field guides for Mexican birds.  The most extensive, and therefore bulkiest is Howell and Webb's Birds of Mexico and northern Central America.  The Peterson Guide to Mexican Birds is the quality you'd expect from a Peterson Field Guide.  If you would be happy with illustrations and limited information, consider Birds of Mexico and Adjacent Areas, the plates are loaded with birds, so you won't spend as much time searching though a lot of pages.  The four field guides with the words 'Birds' and 'Texas' (Peterson, Rappole & Blacklock, Smithsonian and Tekula)  in them don't provide any distinct advantage over the national guides, especially if your only Texas experience is the Rio Grande Valley.  The TOS Handbook of Texas Birds is a valuable planning tool as it details the seasonal occurrence of all the birds found in Texas.  Each species has a range map by county, so you can see what bird is where when.  This does not replace a field guide however, as the only pictures are those of rare or vagrant bird species.

In November 2005, UT Pan American Ornithology professor, Dr. Timothy Brush's book, "Nesting Birds of a Tropical Frontier, The Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas" will be available.  This will compliment your field guide with information on the "natural history about the little-known breeding bird communities of the Valley and the diversity of nesting strategies and behaviors that can be seen. Brush estimates that there are more than 150 current breeding species in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. In Nesting Birds of a Tropical Frontier, he describes the habits, distribution, changes in occurrence, and general outlook of these as well as former breeders, concentrating on Valley specialties and other birds of particular interest in the Valley."  I've been fascinated by Dr. Brush's findings since I first met him, and he described taking his students on canoe trips to track down nesting orioles and other birds.

Butterfly Guides:  The most popular butterfly guides are the Kaufman Focus Guide to Butterflies of North America supplemented by Butterflies of the Lower Rio Grande Valley by Ro Wauer.  Before these books were available, Butterflies through Binoculars West by Glassberg and the Peterson FG to Butterflies (both East and West!) were popular.  If you are traveling to Mexico, contact Frontera Audubon for copies of Butterflies of Northeastern Mexico, a self-published guide by Richard Lehman and Kim Garwood.

Dragonflies:  It's hard to beat the new guide to Dragonflies and Damselflies of Texas and South Central US, unless you go by weight alone (and want to ignore damselflies!).  If that's the case, we recommend  Dragonflies through Binoculars.

Flora:  If plants are your main interest, there are several local guides available, and they are of course your best bet.  Either of the two Texas wildflower guides (Texas Wildflowers by Agilvsi and Wildflowers of Texas by Loughmiller) will supplement the local guides, and for most folks will do just fine for the Valley.

The Beach:  Going to South Padre Island?  There are several books to choose from, ranging from the all encompassing Laguna Madre of Texas and Tamaulipas, to the beach ecology course in a book, Beachcombers Guide to the Marine Life of the Gulf Coast, or the simple laminated guide, Gulf Coast Seashore Life.  See them all in our Gulf Coast and Laguna Madre aisle. 

Valley History/Stories