The Trans-Pecos region of far West Texas represents one of North America’s most spectacular and challenging birding destinations, where the Chihuahuan Desert meets isolated mountain ranges to create a landscape of extraordinary beauty and remarkable avian diversity. This vast region, encompassing roughly 30,000 square miles west of the Pecos River, offers birders the opportunity to experience true desert birding while pursuing some of the continent’s most sought-after specialty species in dramatic mountain “sky islands” that rise from the surrounding desert floor.

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A variety of habitats ranging from sand dunes, desert-scrub, arid canyons, oak-juniper woodlands, lush riparian woodlands, plateau grasslands, cienegas (desert springs), pinyon-juniper woodlands, pine-oak woodlands and montane evergreen forests contribute to a diverse and complex avifauna including many species found nowhere else in the United States including Colima Warbler, Lucifer Hummingbird, Common Black-Hawk, Painted Redstart, Mexican Jay, and Montezuma Quail, among others.

 

Big Bend National Park, Davis Mountains State Park, Guadalupe Mountains National Park and various local hotspots located within this vast area offer accessible birding opportunities. Experiencing the thrill of a 10-mile round-trip hike to spot the Colima Warbler, along with observing multiple hummingbird species in the Davis Mountains, highlights the adventurous birding opportunities in the sky islands of West Texas, a remote but captivating region of the state.