LibGuides: Rio Grande Valley Butterflies: Butterfly Parks and Refuges

Quinta Mazatlan (World Birding Center location, McAllen TX)

Quinta Mazatlan
Quinta Mazatlan is an urban sanctuary working to enrich people's lives by sharing knowledge about animals, plants and environmental stewardship in South Texas.
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South Texas is a magnet for butterflies due to our year-round warm weather, proximity to Mexico and an increase in butterfly habitat.

Yturria Brush Tract (Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge, west of La Joya TX)

Yturria Brush Tract (Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge, west of La Joya TX
Yturria Brush is an 1,800 acre tract that is west of La Joya, Texas and is off Hwy 83. It represents upland thorn scrub habitat provides excellent wildlife watching and nature photography opportunties. The hiking/walking trails are accessible by foot only. There is a designated parking lot and informational kiosk.

Sabal Palm Sanctuary (Brownsville TX)

Sabal Palm Sanctuary (Brownsville)
The Sabal Palm Sanctuary covers 527 acres is at the southernmost tip of Texas. A large variety of wildlife can be found, with over 210 species of butterflies and over 380 species of birds recorded here. Additionally, many reptiles found here are unique to Sabal Palm. Several species of dragonflies, damselflies and arthropods are reported, including some which have not been previously found in the United States. It is one of the best place in the Rio Grande Valley to watch wildlife as many native species of plants and animals reach the northernmost limit of their Mexican range there and do not occur anywhere else in the U.S.

Named for the palms that once reached eighty miles upstream on the Rio Grande River, the Sanctuary is now the last vestige of a Sabal Palm forest in the U.S. The Sabal Palm is the only native species of palm tree that occurs in Texas.

Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park (World Birding Center location, Mission TX)

Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park
The visitor center has a bilingual (English/Spanish) exhibit hall, park store, meeting room and administrative offices--all surrounded by butterfly gardens and hummingbird feeders.
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Visitors can take our transportation shuttle, ride bikes or walk through the park. A two-story observation tower with a wheelchair-accessible ramp gives visitors a bird’s-eye view of the canopy as well as a peek into Mexico. Two enclosed bird blinds, a birding wall and several water features allow visitors to see birds up close and watch their behaviors. Ten bird feeding stations are stocked from November through March, and over seven miles of trails offer a variety of opportunities to encounter wildlife inside the park.

Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge (Alamo TX)

Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge
Zebra longwings, Julias, and Mexican bluewings are but a few of the more than 300 butterfly species found on the refuge. Peak diversity falls between October and December with a single October day known to produce a tremendous 65 documented species! The butterflies of Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge are mainly tropical, with many species occurring only as occasional migrants or transients from Mexico.
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When you visit Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, you're entering the home of approximately 400 bird species, 450 types of plants, half of all butterfly species found in North America, and such rarities as the indigo snake and altamira oriole.

Resaca de la Palma (World Birding Center location, Brownsville TX)

Resaca de la Palma (Brownsville TX)
Brownsville's Resaca de la Palma boasts the largest tract of native habitat inthe World Birding Center network. Discover an array of dazzling butterflies in the park's butterfly garden. Many different species of butterflies can be spotted in South Texas, usually unnoticed amongst all the wondrous habitat we have -- that is until now!

Estero Llano Grande (World Birding Center location, Weslaco TX)

Estero Llano Grande State Park

At the geographic center of the World Birding Center network, Estero Llano Grande State Park in Weslaco attracts a spectacular array of South Texas wildlife with its varied landscape of shallow lake, woodlands and thorn forest. Even beginning birders and nature lovers will enjoy exploring this 230 plus-acre refuge, which is convenient to all the Rio Grande Valley has to offer.

We've been having Butterfly Walks every Friday for the ten years Estero has been in existence. Join us on a ranger-led hike through the park noting these beautiful insects, some found nowhere else but in South Texas. Over 300 butterflies and 100 dragonflies fly in the Valley, usually unnoticed and unappreciated--until now! Click on 'events' tab of Estero Llano Grande's website for a list of Butterfly Walk dates.

Edinburg Wetlands (World Birding Center location, Edinburg TX)

Edinburg Wetlands
In March of 2003, the Edinburg Scenic Wetlands and World Birding Center was the first of nine World Birding Centers to open. The center sits on 40 acres within a city park, near the heart of the city of Edinburg. Built on reclaimed farm fields and next to the city's effluent & floodwater ponds, the Center is a showcase for wildlife and a native habitat site set amidst an urban setting.
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There is an Interpretative Center, gift shop and education classroom. The education classroom is home to our fifth grade wetland program along with many other programs and activities. Surrounding the Interpretive Center, the 3.5 acre native butterfly habitat offers some of the most diverse habitat in the region.

Frontera Audubon (Weslaco TX)

Frontera Audubon

Frontera Audubon is a 15-acre nature preserve in the heart of the city of Weslaco. It provides a haven for birds, butterflies and other wildlife that thrive among the native habitats of its Tamaulipan thornscrub forest, orchard butterfly garden, wetlands, and ponds. The non-profit organization has been in existence since the late 1970s and has been operating from its current location since 2000. Nature enthusiasts from all across North America and parts of Europe visit the sanctuary.

Rio Grande Valley Butterflies: Butterfly Parks and Refuges

National Butterfly Center (Mission TX)