Recent Birds at Rio Bosque
The park is now receiving water from 3 sources: treated water from the Roberto Bustamante Wastewater Treatment Plant, groundwater from our onsite wells and Rio Grande Project irrigation water delivered from the Riverside Canal. On 17 July, water was flowing the full length of the old river channel that winds through the park for the first time since early February.
Starting in late April, both a White-tailed Kite pair and a Cooper's Hawk pair began constructing and then occupying nests at the park. The females were consistently on the nests throughout May and early June. Recently, however, the nests appear to have been abandoned. The Cooper's Hawk nest has been unoccupied since 7 June, and now the White-tailed Kite nest has been unoccupied since 19 June.
Though both species are still being seen sporadically, the park's current most conspicuous diurnal raptors are Mississippi Kites. From 1 to 4 are being seen daily.
Burrowing Owls are nesting at 3 different burrow sites within the park.
Northern Cardinals and Painted Buntings are both present in small numbers.
You can download the current field checklist for the park here.
You can view recent Rio Bosque bird observations posted to eBird .
| Species | Date | Number |
| Swainson's Hawk | 21 July | 1 |
| Bell's Vireo | 21 July | 1 |
| Crissal Thrasher | 21 July | 1 |
| Yellow-breasted Chat | 21 July | 3 |
| Green Heron | 20 July | 1 |
| Burrowing Owl | 20 July | 1 |
| Common Yellowthroat | 20 July | 1 |
| Mississippi Kite | 18 July | 3 |
| Lesser Nighthawk | 17 July | 1 |
| White-tailed Kite | 15 July | 1 |
| Black Phoebe | 15 July | 1 |
| Northern Cardinal | 14 July | 1 |
| Neotropic Cormorant | 12 July | 3 |
| Black-crowned Night Heron | 12 July | 1 |
| Blue Grosbeak | 12 July | 1 |
| Painted Bunting | 12 July | 2 |
| Summer Tanager | 11 July | 1 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 30 June | 1 |
| Black-necked Stilt | 27 June | 11 |
| White-faced Ibis | 27 June | 7 |
