Rio Bosque Wetlands Park: Winter Bird Tour Preview

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Rio Bosque Wetlands Park Visitor's Center

Rio Bosque Wetlands Park is located in southeast El Paso county near the town of Socorro, Texas near the Roberto Bustamante Wastewater Treatment Plant. The park is open from dawn to dusk, 7 days a week. A network of trails winds throughout the park. Three are loop trails: the 0.6-mile Bosque Trail (fully accessible), the 1.5-mile Wetland Trail and the 2.4-mile Rio Trail. All three start near the park's visitor center. Follow along this virtual tour and learn about the different bird species that visit the park during the winter. Visit the park's website for more information: https://www.utep.edu/cerm/rio-bosque/rio-bosque-home.html This virtual tour was created with funding provided by EPA grant #NE-01F54901-0.

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Rio Bosque Wetlands Park Bird Tour: Introduction

On this virtual tour, you will learn about the Rio Bosque Wetlands Park and the birds found there with John Sproul, park manager.

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Rio Bosque Wetlands Park Bird Tour: Great-horned owls

Great-horned owls are not easy to see, but do live in the park. They like dense stands of trees and shrubs, and can be seen if you are lucky. Watch the video to see some of the resident great-horned owls.

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Rio Bosque Wetlands Park Bird Tour: Waterfowl

Winter is a great time to see a variety of waterfowl species. The wetland cells are flooded, providing the shallow water that many of the ducks use for foraging and resting. This video will highlight some of the amazing waterfowl that can be seen at the park.

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Rio Bosque Wetlands Park Bird Tour: Loggerhead Shrike

Learn about the loggerhead shrike, a small songbird with a big attitude!

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Rio Bosque Wetlands Park Bird Tour: Burrowing Owls

Rio Bosque is home to several burrowing owls. Lois Balin, Texas Parks and Wildlife Urban Biologist, has lead a project to install several artificial burrows throughout the park. Burrowing owls are more active during the day than other owl species, so you might get lucky and see one at the entrance to its burrow while visiting.

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Rio Bosque Wetlands Park Bird Tour: Raptors

Rio Bosque is home to several species of raptors. Some are resident year-round, while others are only there in the winter or the summer. The park is one of the best locations to see raptors due to the large population of rodents supported by the restored habitat. Many of the incredible raptors that can be seen at the park are showcased in this video.