Recent Birds at Rio Bosque
Water deliveries to the park from the Roberto Bustamante Wastewater Treatment Plant ended on 2 February. The wetland cells are now dry, and water levels in the old river channel are dropping.
For the moment, ducks continue to be present in small numbers. Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, American Wigeon, Mallard, Mexican Duck, Northern Pintail and Green-winged Teal predominate.
Our pair of White-tailed Kites, first seen 25 May, has now been present for over 8 months..
Burrowing Owl activity has been slow, but owls have been seen in recent weeks at 4 different burrow sites.
American Crows and Chihuahuan Ravens began returning to Rio Bosque in mid-October. Their numbers swelled rapidly, and over 2,000 are now returning each day near sunset to roost in and near the park.
You can download the current field checklist for the park here.
You can view recent Rio Bosque bird observations posted to eBird here.
Species | Date | Number |
Cooper's Hawk | 10 Feb | 3 |
Crissal Thrasher | 10 Feb | 2 |
Neotropic Cormorant | 9 Feb | 1 |
Burrowing Owl | 9 Feb | 1 |
Loggerhead Shrike | 9 Feb | 1 |
Black-necked Stilt | 7 Feb | 3 |
Tree Swallow | 7 Feb | 1 |
Cinnamon Teal | 6 Feb | 1 |
Green Heron | 6 Feb | 1 |
Turkey Vulture | 6 Feb | 1 |
Wilson's Snipe | 4 Feb | 1 |
Northern Cardinal | 4 Feb | 1 |
Bufflehead | 3 Feb | 1 |
Black-crowned Night-Heron | 3 Feb | 1 |
Sharp-shinned Hawk | 31 Jan | 1 |
Black Phoebe | 30 Jan | 1 |
White-throated Swift | 29 Jan | 12+ |
Harris's Hawk | 28 Jan | 1 |
Bewick's Wren | 28 Jan | 1 |
White-tailed Kite | 27 Jan | 1 |
Sandhill Crane | 24 Jan | 1 |
Ring-billed Gull | 20 Jan | 4 |
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher | 20 Jan | 1 |