Galveston Island

Extend your Trip

Galveston Island offers consistent coastal birding along with the opportunity to several lifers during spring migration. Not to miss spots include Corps Wood, Lafitte’s Cove, and Galveston Island State Park. Similar to what you’d see at Sabine Woods or High Island, they’re teeming with warblers, vireos, thrushes, flycatchers, and tanagers. Woodland trails and 8-mile Road/Sportsmen’s Road provide road access to a marsh and field habitat that dead-ends in West Bay where many water birds gather.  

Birds such as Black Skimmer and American Oystercatchers can be seen here.  It is also a good location to see Magnificent Frigatebirds and Reddish Egrets in the summer. In the marsh and field habitat, wading birds like Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Crested Caracara, White-tailed Kite, and Vermillion Flycatcher (winter) are common.  

Galveston Island State Park is composed of a beach and marsh habitat along with the open waters of the Gulf. The park has two observation towers, but you can also walk the miles of trail networks. Many shorebirds such as Sanderling, Black-bellied Plover, and Willet can be spotted among the waves. There is a blind overlooking a small pond to stay hidden from view.

•    Major Birding Sites: Corps Woods Nature Sanctuary, 8-Mile/Sportsmen’s Road, Settegast (Nottingham Ranch) Road, Lafitte’s Cove Nature Preserve, Galveston Island State Park