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. We do not yet have water flowing the full length of the old river channel that winds through the park, but each day we are getting closer to that goal.
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.
Both species are still being seen sporadically, but currently the park's most conspicuous diurnal raptors are Mississippi Kites. From 1 to 4 are being seen daily.
Burrowing Owls are nesting at 4 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 |
| Green Heron | 9 July | 1 |
| Mississippi Kite | 9 July | 3 |
| Burrowing Owl | 9 July | 1 |
| Yellow-breasted Chat | 9 July | 1 |
| Common Yellowthroat | 9 July | 1 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 7 July | 1 |
| Bell's Vireo | 7 July | 2 |
| Northern Cardinal | 7 July | 1 |
| White-tailed Kite | 6 July | 1 |
| Crissal Thrasher | 6 July | 1 |
| Blue Grosbeak | 2 July | 1 |
| Neotropic Cormorant | 1 July | 1 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 30 June | 1 |
| Painted Bunting | 30 June | 1 |
| Black-necked Stilt | 27 June | 11 |
| White-faced Ibis | 27 June | 7 |
| Black Phoebe | 27 June | 1 |
