NPS photo

White-tailed hawk in flight over Padre Island

Because of the island's location on the central flyway, a major migratory route, about 380 species of birds have been documented within the National Seashore. This is approximately 45% of all bird species documented in North America.

In 1998, the American Bird Conservancy designated Padre Island NS as a "Globally Important Bird Area" in its United States Important Bird Areas program, citing the park for providing, "important habitat for globally significant numbers of Brown Pelicans, Redheads (5% of the world's population), Least Terns (8% of the North American population), Piping Plovers (10% of the world's population), Reddish Egrets (7% of the biogeographic population) and Peregrine Falcons (7% of the North American population)."

The best time to bird Padre Island National Seashore is either during early spring or during fall and winter when thousands of birds either migrate through or spend the winter here. During the summer most of the birds found will be common shore and marsh birds, some raptors, and, of course, song birds. This area is the northern limit of many species commonly found only in Central America and south Texas, such as great kiskadee and white-tailed hawk. Occasionally birds whose normal range is much farther south find their way here, so the area can offer many unexpected and exciting species. For a list of the birds of south Texas including photographs and description, please click on this link.Most common along the Gulf beach during the year are willet, sanderling, black skimmer, great blue heron, cormorant, cattle egret, black-bellied plover, laughing gull, brown pelican, reddish egret, and five species of terns. Two endangered species that occur periodically are piping plover and least tern. During the winter another four species of gulls appear along with a variety of other birds. The best way to view these is to drive slowly along the shore and approach slowly, without leaving your vehicle.

Another frequently excellent area for birdwatching is Bird Island Basin. Although this area may be dry during the summer or during periods of extended drought, when it is wet a variety of marsh birds may be seen here including black-necked stilts, roseate spoonbills, great egrets, ibis, and others. For about a week during the early spring of 2005, a masked duck was seen in one of the ponds alongside the road to Bird Island Basin.

Finally, simply driving along Park Road 22 brings many rewards. Fall brings sandhill cranes, which will usually be seen slowly walking through the grasslands. During winter many hawks may be seen sitting on telephone poles near the roads, perched in treetops, or on fence posts watching for game. White-tailed hawk is one of the most commonly spotted along with peregrine falcons, northern harriers, caracara and ospreys. Both white-tailed hawks and caracara have been documented as nesting within the park.