Red Slough
Red Slough. Favorite Amongst Bird Watchers
The wetlands, marshes, lakes, streams and forests of the Red Slough Wildlife Management area cover nearly 8,000 acres and are home to more than 315 species of birds and a host of other critters, plants rare to the region.
A favorite of bird-watchers, the Red Slough has been compared to the Gulf Coast habitats of Louisiana and Florida thanks to common sightings of rare species such as the roseate spoonbill, purple gallinule, white ibis, wood stork, yellow rail and black-bellied whistling duck. And you don’t have to be an avid birder to get excited about catching a glimpse of a bald eagle, which are frequently spotted in the area.
Visitors also delight in the chance to see alligators roam the wetlands, especially during the spring. The Red Slough is the only place in Oklahoma where alligators have been known to breed, and many travelers plan their getaways specifically around the prime season for spotting alligators.
The area is also popular with hunters of water fowl, especially during the winter months, when an abundance of ducks — mallards, teal, gadwalls and pintails, among others — converge on the area in droves.
Quail, dove, rabbit, turkey, and deer hunting are popular when in season, and you can send the kids out on snipe hunting expeditions year-round. Fishing for bass, catfish and sunfish is popular in Push Creek and in reservoirs throughout the area.
Rules and regulations regarding hunting as well as safety guidelines and area maps can be found at the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Management’s website.
See a photo gallery of the varied wildlife in the Red Slough.
Ducks, Geese, and Swans
American Black duck
American Wigeon
Black-bellied Whistling Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Bufflehead
Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Canvasback
Cinnamon Teal
Common Goldeneye
Fulvous Whistling Duck
Gadwall
Great Scaup
Greater White-fronted Goose
Green-winged Teal
Hooded Merganser
Lesser Scaup
Mallard
Mottled Duck
Northern Pintail
Northern Shoveler
Red-breasted Merganser
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Ross’ Goose
Ruddy Duck
Snow Goose
Trumpeter Swan
Tundra Swan
Wood Duck
Turkey and Quail
Wild Turkey
Northern Bobwhite
Loons
Common Loon
Grebes
Least Grebe
Pied-billed Grebe
Horned Grebe
Eared Grebe
Shearwaters and Petrals
Cory’s Shearwater
Pelicans
American White Pelican
Cormorants and Anhingas
Neoropic Cormorant
Double-Crested Cormorant
Anhinga
Frigatebirds
Magnificent Frigatebird
Bitterns, Herons, and Egrets
American Bittern
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Cattle Egret
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Green Heron
Least Bittern
Little Blue Heron
Snowy Egret
Tricolored Heron
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Ibises and Spoonbills
Glossy Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill
White Ibis
White-faced Ibis
Storks and Vultures
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Wood Stork
Ospreys, Hawks, and Falcons
American Kestrel
Bald Eagle
Broad-winged Hawk
Cooper’s hawk
Crested Caracara
Golden Eagle
Harris’ Hawk
Merlin
Mississippi Kite
Northern Harrier
Osprey
Peregrine Falcon
Prairie Falcon
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Swainson’s Hawk
Swallow-tailed Kite
White-tailed Kite
Rails, Gallinules, and Cranes
American Coot
Black Rail
Common Moorhen
King Rail
Purple Gallinule
Sandhill Crane
Sora
Virginia Rail
Yellow Rail
Plovers
American Golden Plover
Black-bellied Plover
Killdeer
Piping Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Sandpipers
American Avocet
American Woodcock
Baird’s Sandpiper
Black-necked Stilt
Buff-breasted Sandpiper
Dunlin
Greater Yelloowlegs
Hudsonian Godwit
Least Sandpiper
Lesser Yellowlegs
Long-bille Dowitcher
Long-billed Curley
Marbled Godwit
Pectoral Sandpiper
Red Know
Red-necked Phalarope
Ruddy Turnstone
Sanderling
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher
Solitary Sandpiper
Spotted Sandpiper
Stilt Sandpiper
Upland Sandpiper
Western Sandpiper
Whimbrel
White-rumped Sandpiper
Willet
Wilson’s Phalarope
Wilson’s Snipe
Skuas, Gulls, and Terns
Black Tern
Bonaparte’s Gull
Caspian Tern
Common Tern
Forster’s Tern
Franklin’s Gull
Herring Gull
Laughing Gull
Least Tern
Parasitic Jaeger
Ring-billed Gull
Roayl Tern
Sabine’s Gull
Sooty Tern
Pigeons & Doves
Band-tailed Pigeon
Common Ground –Dove
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Inca Dove
Mourning Dove
Rock Pigeon
White-winged Dove
Cuckoos
Black-billed Cuckoo
Greater Roadrunner
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Owls
Barn Owl
Barred Owl
Eastern Screech Owl
Great Horned Owl
Short-eared Owl
Nighthawks and Nightjars
Chuck-Will’s-Widow
Common Nighthawk
Whip-poor-will
Swifts and Hummingbirds
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Kingfishers
Belted Kingfisher
Woodpeckers
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Red Cockaded Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Red-headed Woodpecker
Yellow-belied Sapsucker
Flycatcher
Olive-Sided Flycatcher
Eastern Wood Pewee
Acadian Flycatcher
Alder Flycatcher
Willow Flycatcher
Least Flycatcher
Eatern Phoebe
Ash-throated Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Great-crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Shrikes
Logger head Shrike
Vireos
Bell’s Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Philadelphia Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Warbling Vireo
White-eyed Vireo
Yellow-throated Vireo
Jays and Crows
American Crow
Blue Jay
Fish Crow
Larks
Horned Lark
Swallows
Bank Swallow
Barn Swallow
Cave Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow
Chickadees and Titmice
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Creepers and Nuthatches
Brown Creeper
Brown-headed nuthatch
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-brested Nuthatch
Wrens
Bewick’s Wren
Carolina Wren
House Wren
Marsh Wren
Sedge Wren
Winter Wren
Kinglets
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Gnatcatchers & Thrushes
American Robin
Blue-gray Gnatcher
Eastern Bluebird
Gray-checked Thrush
Hermit Thrush
Hermit Thrush
Swainson’s Thrush
Wood Thrush
Mockingbirds & Thrashers
Brown Thrasher
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
Sage Thrasher
Starlings
European Starling
Pipits
American Pipit
Sprague’s Pipit
Waxwings
Cedar Waxwing
Warblers
American Redstart
Bay-breasted Warbler
Black-and-White Warbler
Black-Thr. Green Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Blue Warbler
Blue-winged Warbler
Canada Warbler
Cerulean Warbler
Chesnut-sided Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Golden-winged Warbler
Hooded Warbler
Kentucky Warbler
Louisiana Waterthrush
Magnolia Warbler
Mounring Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Northern Parula
Northern Waterthrush
Orange-crowned Warbler
Ovenbird
Palm Warbler
Pine Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Prothonotar Warbler
Swainson’s Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Wilson’s Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-breasted Chat
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Tanagers
Scarlet Tanager
Summer Tanager
New World Sparrows
American Tree Sparrow
Bachman’s Sparrow
Brewer’s Sparrow
Chestnutcollared Longspur
Chipping Sparrow
Clay-colored Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Eastern Towhee
Field Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
Gasshopper Sparrow
Harris’ Sparrow
Henslow’s Sparrow
Lapland Longspur
Lark Bunting
Lark Sparrow
LeConte’s Sparrow
Lincoln’s Sparrow
McCown’s Longspur
Nelson’s Sharptailed Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Smith’s Longspur
Snow Bunting
Song Sparrow
Spotted Towhee
Swamp Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Grosbeaks and Buntings
Blue Grosbeak
Dickcissel
Indigo Bunting
Northern Cardinal
Painted Bunting
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Blackbirds and Orioles
| Baltimore Oriole |
| Bobolink |
Brewer’s Blackbird |
Brown-headed Cowbird |
Common Grackle |
Eastern Meadowlark |
Great-tailed Grackle |
| Orchard Oriole |
Red-winged Blackbird |
| Rusty Blackbird |
Western Meadowlark |
Yellow-headed Blackbird |
Finches
American Goldfinch
House Finch
House Sparrow
Pine Siskin
Purple Finch