Amistad National Recreation Area & Seminole Canyon State Park

Amistad, meaning “friendship” in Spanish, is an international recreation area with facilities on both sides of the border. Amistad Reservoir was created in 1966, with the completion of the 6-mile-long Amistad Dam on the Rio Grande. Water was backed up for 74 miles along the Rio Grande, 14 miles up the Pecos, and 25 miles up Devils River. The 67,000-acre reservoir includes 850 miles of shoreline. The region lies at the confluence of three major biogeographic regions: Trans-Pecos to the west, Edwards Plateau to the north, and Tamaulipan to the southeast. The national recreation area is primarily a boating, fishing, and water sports impoundment, but the region also contains numerous archeological sites, including a rich assortment of Indian rock art. One site near the mouth of Seminole Canyon contains a pictograph of a mountain lion, believed to be more than 10,000 years old. Seminole Canyon State Park, 2,173 acres of rough canyonlands, offers guided tours into the canyon for viewing the abundant Indian pictographs. Key Birds: Least Grebe; Neotropic Cormorant; Anhinga; Harris’s Hawk; Wild Turkey; Scaled Quail; Greater Roadrunner; White-throated Swift; Ringed Kingfisher; Green Kingfisher; Golden-fronted Woodpecker; Black and Say’s Phoebes; Vermilion Flycatcher; Chihuahuan and Common Ravens; Cactus, Rock, and Canyon Wrens; Black-tailed Gnatcatcher; Curve-billed Thrasher; Pyrrhuloxia; Olive Sparrow; and Lesser Goldfinch are present year-round. Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Swainson’s and Zone-tailed Hawks, Groove-billed Ani, Lesser Nighthawk, Brown-crested and Scissor-tailed Flycatchers, Great Kiskadee, Couch’s Kingbird, Long-billed Thrasher, Bell’s Vireo, Painted Bunting, Cassin’s Sparrow, Dickcissel, and Hooded and Bullock’s Orioles occur in summer. Osprey, Golden Eagle, Sandhill Crane, Sage Thrasher, Green-tailed Towhee, and Lark Bunting can usually be found in winter. This eTrail provides detailed information on birding strategies for this specific location, the specialty birds and other key birds you might see, directions to each birding spot, a detailed map, and helpful general information.