Richard Moore Outdoor Report: South Padre Island Treasure

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas (ValleyCentral) — There is treasure on South Padre Island, and you can behold this spectacular feathered bounty right now.

Every spring, particularly during the latter part of April and early May, thousands of colorful songbirds descend on the island's scant trio of protected wooded lots totaling less than five acres of suitable habitat at the lots on Sheepshead, the Birding and Nature Center and a small scattering of old growth trees at the convention center.

These neotropical migrants, birds of the Western Hemisphere that migrate long distances from wintering grounds in the New World Tropics (or Neotropics) to breeding grounds in North America are currently funneling through southernmost Texas.

South Padre Island is the vital first landfall for these birds as they complete their nonstop marathon migration across the vast 500-mile swath of the Gulf of Mexico.

Desperate for food, shelter, and freshwater the famished birds depend on the remnant wooded lots for rest and sustenance before completing their migratory journey.

Outdoor recreation is the number one attraction to South Padre Island, and the annual spring and fall migrations attract nature tourists from all over the world.

According to the 2022 study released by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, a staggering $250 billion-plus was spent in the country by wildlife watchers, which includes primarily birders who observe, photograph, and feed birds.

The most recent study by Texas A&M University in 2012 revealed that ecotourism in the Rio Grande Valley generated an astounding annual economic impact of $463 million and it is undoubtedly much greater now.

On South Padre Island it is the old-growth trees that bring the birds, and the birds attract the tourists who bring the bucks.

Year-round these critical woodlands are home to resident birds like the Great Kiskadee, but in spring and fall they are joined by these migratory marvels. Every one of these birds in this story has been photographed this month on our treasured island, so come visit South Padre.