Travis County

Checklists of the Austin Area

Column 1. - The first column is a recent eBird list of Travis County from 2020. I have also added a few more species that have had multiple sightings over time and that appear to have a track record of irregular observations. I have eliminated a few species of birds if (1.) they only made one historical list and (2.) they are not in any modern list or entered into any eBird list. In other words, any bird with only one known observation over almost a century of checklists was likely left off the list. This includes Sandwich Tern, Lucifer Hummingbird, White-throated Swift, Stellar's Jay, Grace's Warbler, Audubon's Oriole, and Cassin's Finch.

The exception is any "review species." If the bird was reviewed by the TBRC (most rarities after 1974), I made an effort to keep it on the list regardless of how many sightings there have been overall. There are probably a few errors in this method of cross-checking. Besides some mis-typing on my part, eBird is as only as good as the observers who use it. It's entirely likely some species are missing that should have been included.

If a species shows up on the current list but shows no "x" in any of the historical lists, it generally means (with a few exceptions) that the observation occurred sometime between 2003 and 2020.

Column 2. - The second column is from "Birds of the Austin, Texas, Region" by Travis Audubon Society, 2003.

Column 3. - The third column is from "Checklist and Seasonal Distribution, Birds of the Austin, Texas Region". 1984

Column 4. - The fourth column is from "Field Checklist, Birds of Travis County, Texas", compiled by Edgar Kincaid and Fred Webster for Travis County Audubon, 1954

Column 5. - The fifth column is from "Birds of the Austin Region," by George Finlay Simmons, 1925. This is an annotated checklist, and perhaps one of the very first checklists for the region.

At the bottom of the page are printable checklists in a PDF format.

Special Thanks to Chuck Sexton for providing these lists as PDFs.

Top Row: 2003, 1994, 1989 Middle Row: 1984, 1978, 1972 Bottom Row: 1965, 1959, 1954