The State of Texas recently named Laredo as the starting point for the Heart of Texas Birding Trail. The main attraction on the trail is the rare White-collared Seedeater, which inhabits the banks of the Rio Grande. In 1999, Laredo reported the only White-collared Seedeaters in the United States on the Christmas Bird Count sponsored annually by the National Audobon Society. It remained one of the only locations in the U. S. for this rare bird to be found, according to Mark Woodin of the United States Geological Survey office in Corpus Christi.

Other beautiful birds on the trail include the Pyrrhuloxia, the Great Kiskadee and the Osprey, Ringed, Belted and Green Kingfishers, Green Jays and Altamira Orioles.