Get ready for the Annual Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival. The event is slated for November 6 through 10 at the Harlingen Convention Center, 701 Harlingen Heights Dr.
There will be over 100 fantastic field trip offerings to choose from including traditional tours through the parks the Valley is well known for as well as several new offerings such as private ranches for those seasoned returning festival birders. Special trips in the field with some of the featured speakers to further enhance their presentations are also always a great treat. In addition to field trips, they will also have keynote speakers, informative workshops, seminars, a giant tradeshow full of vendors, a silent auction, fun socials with local music and food, and of course all the birds.

The Valley is always full of colorful birds, friendly people, and plenty of birders. During this time of year, many birds are migrating to warmer areas – just like you – and a few are going to cooler places too. The Lower Rio Grande Valley sits on the convergence of the Central Mississippi migratory flyways, meaning many millions of birds pass through our area every year on their way north and south. With environmental influences from the Gulf Coast to the east, Great Plains to the north, Chihuahuan desert to the west, and subtropical influence from the south, the LRGV is a melting pot for North American birds and easily one of the top birding locations in the entire ABA area.

The festival is timed perfectly for birders to find lingering neotropical migrants still trickling through, wintering birds starting to wander south, and Mexican vagrants popping up from across the border with Mexico. Every year there are spectacular rarities found during the festival.

Some rarities spotted in 2023 included the American Flamingo, Red Billed Pigeon, Roadside Hawk, Burrowing Owl, White-Throated Swift, Limpkin, Red-Throated Becard, Dusty-Capped Flycatcher, Western Flycatcher, Bare-throated Tiger Heron, Brown Jay, Tropical Parula, Golden-Crowned Warbler and the Blue Bunting.

Some that you are most likely to see are the Fulvous Whistling Duck, Plain Chachalaca, White-tipped Dove, Common Pauraque, Gray Hawk, Mottled Owl, Southern Lapwing, White-Tailed Hawk, Green Kingfisher, Golden Fronted Woodpecker, Red Crowned Parrot, Aplomado Falcon, and so many more.

Online registration for most events closes soon, so visit their website at www.rgvbf.org for those events. You can find their brochure, what speakers are coming, and what birds have been sighted. While everyone who participates pays a registration fee, visitors also have the option of purchasing a Kiskadee Pass – an all-event pass that gets you into the talks for a savings instead of buying tickets at the door. All field trips are priced according to entry fees/vehicles used/number of guides allotted. Also look through the entire brochure that can be found online to see several pre and post event birding trips.

One of the other highlighted events includes the Live Birds of Prey flight show. Their birds consist of falcons, hawks, owls, vultures, ravens, and even Kookaburras. There will be several presentations during the festival at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. on November 9 and 10.