Encounter Atlas

Creature index / Winged things

Big Bird of the Rio Grande Valley

Also called Big Bird, Texas Big Bird, Rio Grande Valley Big Bird, Raymondville Big Bird

A flap of giant bird sightings in South Texas in the winter of 1976.

Over a few weeks around New Year 1976, people across the Lower Rio Grande Valley in South Texas reported an enormous bird or bat-like flier. Two girls in Harlingen saw a dark bird with a gorilla-like face on New Year's Day, and their family found three-toed tracks.

On 7 January a Brownsville man said something slammed into his trailer home. On 14 January Armando Grimaldo of Raymondville said a creature with a monkey-like face and leathery skin swooped on him in his yard and tore his shirt. A $1,000 reward was offered for its capture. Some sightings were later traced to herons and pelicans, but the flap is still a Valley legend.

What witnesses report

  • A huge dark bird or bat with a wingspan of 10 to 15 ft
  • A bald, gorilla- or monkey-like face
  • Three-toed tracks
  • Attacks from above

Famous cases

  1. 1976Harlingen New Year sighting
    Harlingen, Texas
  2. 1976Armando Grimaldo attack
    Raymondville, Texas

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Related

Thunderbirdaka Giant bird, Big bird of the PlainsGiant birds with impossible wingspans reported across North America.La Lechuzaaka Lechuza, Owl witchA witch who turns into a huge owl with a woman's face, from Texas-Mexican folklore.Mothmanaka The Bird, Red-eyed winged manA winged figure with glowing red eyes seen around Point Pleasant in 1966 and 1967.