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About RGV Bird Guide

A community resource built for birders who love the Rio Grande Valley — and the birds that call it home.

Why We Built This

RGV Bird Guide is the ultimate online resource for birding in the Rio Grande Valley — helping local birders and visiting birders find target birds, discover the best hotspots, plan memorable trips, and connect with the RGV birding community.

The Rio Grande Valley is one of North America's most extraordinary birding destinations — a meeting place of tropical and temperate species found nowhere else in the United States. We believe every birder who visits or lives here deserves a tool built specifically for this place, powered by real-time data and local knowledge.

What We Stand For

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Accuracy First
Data we show is reliable, clearly sourced, and updated in real time from eBird — the gold standard in bird observation data.
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Community Driven
Local knowledge is as valuable as scientific data. We're building tools that bring the RGV birding community together.
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Conservation
Promoting birding grows appreciation for RGV habitat and wildlife. Every birder who visits is an ambassador for conservation.
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Accessibility
Useful for beginners discovering the valley and experienced birders chasing rarities alike. Free, always.
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Citizen Science
We actively encourage eBird checklist submissions. Every checklist contributes to science and makes this app better for everyone.
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Nature & Wildlife
Beyond birds — we celebrate the full richness of RGV nature, wildlife, and the unique ecosystem of the Lower Rio Grande Valley.

Help Make This App Better — Submit to eBird

RGV Bird Guide is powered entirely by eBird data submitted by birders like you. Every checklist you submit makes the Rare Bird Chaser more accurate, improves the Top Hotspots rankings, and helps scientists track bird populations across the Rio Grande Valley.

The more checklists submitted in the RGV, the better this app works — for everyone. Submitting a checklist takes just a few minutes and your observations become part of one of the largest citizen science databases in the world.

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Submit Your Sightings to eBird

Every bird you report in the RGV contributes to science, conservation, and the accuracy of this app. Download the free Merlin Bird ID app or submit directly at ebird.org.

Submit to eBird ↗

Built for Every RGV Birder

Whether you're a local birder keeping tabs on what's active in Hidalgo County this week, or a visiting birder planning your first RGV trip to see the 47 specialty birds — this app is built for you.

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Visiting Birders
Plan your trip, find your target birds, discover the best hotspots and make the most of every day in the field.
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Local Birders
Stay connected to what's being seen right now, discover new spots, and share your knowledge with the community.
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Beginning Birders
Learn about the incredible diversity of the RGV, find where to start, and get help identifying what you're seeing.
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Bird Photographers
Find where target species are being seen right now and share your photos with the community.

How to Contribute

RGV Bird Guide grows stronger with community involvement. Here are the ways you can help:

📋 Submit eBird Checklists
The single most impactful thing you can do. Every checklist improves the data powering this app.
📷 Share Bird Photos
Submit your RGV bird photography to the community gallery — coming soon.
📍 Suggest Hotspots
Know a great birding spot that should be on the radar? Let us know via the contact form.
📅 Share Events
Bird walks, festivals, guided tours — share RGV birding events with the community.
🐛 Report Issues
Found a bug or data discrepancy? Let us know so we can fix it quickly.
💡 Suggest Features
Have an idea that would make this app more useful for RGV birders? We want to hear it.

Powered by eBird

All bird sighting data displayed on RGV Bird Guide is sourced from the eBird API, provided by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. eBird is a real-time, online bird checklist program — the world's largest biodiversity-related citizen science project.

Bird observation data powered by eBird · Cornell Lab of Ornithology · ebird.org
Species information from Wikipedia and All About Birds · Cornell Lab of Ornithology
RGV Bird Guide is an independent project and is not affiliated with Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Your Privacy

RGV Bird Guide uses Google Analytics to understand how visitors use the site — this includes page views, general location (country/region level), and device type. No personally identifiable information is collected.

We do not sell, share, or monetize any user data. The contact form collects only the information you voluntarily provide (name, email, message) which is used solely to respond to your inquiry.

RGV Bird Guide products are ad-free at this time. If advertising is introduced in the future this policy will be updated.

Get in Touch

Have a question, bug report, feature idea, or want to discuss a partnership? We'd love to hear from you.

We typically respond within 1–2 business days.