The south Texas landscape is a unique blending of temperate, subtropical, coastal and desert habitats. Mexican plants and wildlife are at the northernmost edge of their range, while migrating waterfowl and sandhill cranes fly down for the mild winters. This combination makes Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Reguge world famous for its birds, and home to a mix of wildlife found nowhere else.
     Laguna Atascosa NWR is the largest protected area of natural habitat left in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, an oasis for wildlife with few alternatives. The refuge's 45,187 acres become more valuable with each acre lost to development--valuable to wildlife and valuable to those who enjoy wildlife in wildlands.

Watering Wildlands
     Irrigation and drainage have reduced the amount of water flowing into the refuge. Water is trapped in ponds, resacas (old oxbows of the Rio Grande), and the refuge's namesake lake, Laguna Atascosa, to hold fresh water between rains.
     Many birds are particular about the depths they feed in, so levels are adjusted throughout the year to benefit both ducks and wading birds.

Growing Tomorrow's Thorn Forest
     The refuge has planted several old farm fields in native brush for ocelot and other brushland wildlife. It may may take 20 to 40 years to grow dense brush similar to untouched stands.

Firing Up
     While working to re-establish brushland where it belongs, the refuge also maintains grasslands for those species that depend on them. Occasional prescribed burns increase the nutritional content of the grass and reduce invading brush.

Things to Do at the Refuge

Visitor Center
     Find out more about the refuge and its wildlife through the exhibits and videos at the visitor center. Some of the best birding can be found
in the area surrounding the visitor center. The center is open from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm daily, October through April; 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, weekends in May; call for summer hours.

Programs and Tours
     Volunteers and rangers lead programs and birding tours on weekends November through April. Schedules are available at the Visitor Center. Schools and other groups may call to arrange for programs.

Wildlife Watching
     Early morning and late afternoon or cool overcast days are usually the best times to see larger wildlife. Be sure to record your sightings at the Visitor Center or office.
     Green jays, and chachalaca, prefer the dense thorny burshland areas of the refuge, while, least grebe, and black-bellied whistling ducks choose the ponds and resacas. Desert dwellers like roadrunner, verdin, and cactus wren inhabit the scrub areas, while species like roseate spoonbill, egrets, and herons join black-necked stilt, American avocet, and piping plover at the shore of the Laguna Madre. Check the map to find tour routes and trails for wildlife watching.