South Padre Island along with its costal wetlands and estuaries, as well as the Rio Grande Valley, is one of America's birding hotspots for fall and spring migrations. The island attracts over 300 species of birds throughout the year. The South Padre Island Convention Centre and the nearby Laguna Madre Nature Trail with its four acres of wetlands offer excellent bird watching opportunities on the island. Located on fifty acres near the convention center, the South Padre Island Birding and Nature Trail represent the diverse habitats that are found along the Texas coast. Dune meadows, salt marsh and tidal flats are irresistible to both birds and people.


Weather your on the beach by the bay or just relaxing outside of your condo there are always plenty of birding opportunities available while on the island.

• Rio Grande Birding Festival, Inc. - With a combination of field trips, workshops, seminars, keynote lectures, children's programs, and a trade show, there is no doubt that there is something for everyone!
• The World Birding Center - Come visit the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas where history, culture and spectacular natural diversity combine into one unforgettable nature adventure.
• Bird Forum - Forums for discussion of birds, birding, and bird photography worldwide. Includes photo gallery and trip reports.
• Bird Links to the World - Collection of links related to birds, birding, and birders, divided by geographic location.
• BirdChat Quiz - Stephane Moniotte's site with quiz birds, results of past quizzes, and photographs.
• The Birding Home - Logs of birders' observations from around the world.
• Birding on the Net - Recent messages of birding e-mail groups, rare bird alerts, artwork, checklists, news, and links.
• Birding Site Guide - Descriptions and bird lists for birding sites worldwide.
• Birding the World - Don Roberson's detailed guide to birding in each of the world's biogeographic regions.
• Birding.com - Photos, songs, birding hot spots, checklists, links, and advice for new and backyard birders.
• BirdingPal - Worldwide list of contacts, grouped by location, who are willing to help travelling birdwatchers.
• Birds I Saw - Bird photographs from around the world. Allows users to assemble their own books for birds, with output in pdf or html.
• BirdSite - A community-based website for sharing bird images and sounds from around the world.
• Fat Birder - News, comprehensive worldwide birding links, and reviews.
• GORP - Birding - Articles, guides to sites throughout the world, species information, resources, and links of interest to birders.
• International Migratory Bird Day - Annual event held the second Saturday in May. Brief information about the event and online store.
• Interpretive Birding Bulletin - Newsletter for understanding bird behavior in North America and Australia, with sample articles.
• My Bird Lists - Membership site with forum, storage of personal bird lists, and capability to upload text and photos/artwork.
• Ocean Wanderers - Seabird news, pelagic birding around the world, annotated lists of seabirds and marine mammals, photo gallery, photo quiz, list of identification articles, and links.
• Ornifolks - Network of US birders who share trip expenses to bird distant places as economically as possible. Newsletter and trip reports from around the world.
• Surfbirder - A search engine for birds and birding.
• Surfbirds - World birding news, identification and bird finding articles, photographs, sketches, and trip reports.
• thebirdinsight.com - Forum for keen birdwatchers and bird conservationists from around the world.
• Where Do You Want to Go Birding Today? - Information about birds and birding worldwide. Endemic and specialty bird information for many countries; photographs and links to checklists and other resources.
• WorldTwitch - Guide to finding rare birds around the world.