When we talk about a fish hatchery, the conversation naturally goes to fish. However, when the Inks Dam National Fish Hatchery comes up, there is a group of people who are talking about birds.

Inks Dam National Fish Hatchery is located approximately 60 miles Northwest of Austin, TX. in the Hill Country. The facility borders the Colorado River below Inks Lake and is nestled between Inks Lake State Park and Longhorn Caverns State Park.

The hatchery’s current programs consist of restoration and recovery of paddlefish, as well as providing channel catfish for tribal fishery management programs and to fulfill tribal trust responsibilities. In addition to these programs, the facility has continued its long-term cooperative agreements with Fort Hood and New Mexico Game and Fish to increase recreational fishing opportunities for warm-water fish species. The facility recently re-established a program to provide warm-water fish for stocking on National Forest Service lands in the state of Texas. Additionally, this facility maintains a refuge population of state and federally endangered Clear Creek gambusia

Sherry Bixler, a member of the Friends of Inks Dam National Fish Hatchery, a Texas Master Naturalist, and active with the Highland Lakes Birding and Wildflower Society talks about the birds that call the hatchery grounds home, or pass through on their yearly migrations.

She and several other birders began surveying the environs around the hatchers in March 2013. In just three months they documented about 100 different bird species that they have seen or heard. Out of 900 bird species found in the United States, 600 can be found in Texas

Why so many birds around the hatchery? The hatchery is set on about 100 acres of central Texas Hill Country land. The hatchery only uses about 30 acres. The remaining diverse acreage is attractive to birds. Three species, the Painted Bunting, Northern Bobwhite quail, and the Bell’s Vireo according to Bixler, are on the Audubon Society’s Watchlist.

These birds have been sighted frequently by birders. The hatchery will be seeking designation as an Important Bird Area by the Audubon Society.

The Inks Dam National Fish Hatchery is located approximately 60 miles Northwest of Austin. The facility borders the Colorado River below Inks Lake and is nestled between Inks Lake State Park and Longhorn Caverns State Park. The hatchery is reached by traveling State Highway 29 West from Burnet, TX for nine miles, and then Park Road 4 for four miles to the hatchery