Louisiana has some fantastic birding opportunities. The Gulf Coast, particularly Grand Isle, is a traditional place for massive spring "fallouts" of migratory songbirds. Winter brings millions of waterfowl to the state's abundant wetlands, while those same wetlands host colonies of hundreds of herons and ibises in the summer. Thanks to the new Yellow Rails & Rice Festival, taking place every fall since 2009, birders now have a chance to see these elusive rails in southwestern Louisiana by riding on tractors through rice fields, where the birds winter. Louisiana is also where pairs of closely related birds, like White-faced and Glossy Ibises or Great-tailed and Boat-tailed Grackle, that are otherwise geographically separate can be found together. The uplands of northern Louisiana are home to Greater Roadrunner, Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, and other sought-after specialties.
