Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival

08/29/2026

REGISTRATION FOR OUR 2026 FESTIVAL IS NOW OPEN! Field trips and festival activities run from November 11-15 this year. If you're ready, you can register directly here: https://cvent.me/2mMyN0 or visit www.rgvbf.org to plan your trip and view our field trip options, speakers for this year, and more. Good luck and see ya'll soon!

08/24/2026

🥳🥳 Registration for our 2026 Festival opens THIS WEEKEND, Saturday August 29 at 12pm CDT! www.rgvbf.org

Last year MANY of our most popular trips sold out Day 1, so be sure to plan your favorite trips now to be ready for opening day! On our website navigate to Festival Information to see our full Field Trip and Festival Event Schedule, detailed Field Trip Descriptions, application for our updated Conservation Grants, and more. If you want to be fully prepared for registration at opening, be sure to read all of the helpful tips below!

❗️Activities in the registration system are sorted by day, category (Field Trips, Photo Track, Seminars, Special Events and Workshops) and finally by departure time.
❗️The $75 per person registration fee includes full access to Keynotes, Seminars, Workshops, Special Events (Trivia Night, Take It or Leave It: Birding Hot Takes Live with the American Birding Association), the Tuesday Welcome Reception, and Kiskadee Kordials.
❗️Since Keynotes, Speakers, Seminars, and Workshops are included in your registration fee, you don't need to sign up for them. You do need to sign up for Photo Track Seminars separately if you want to attend those.
❗️Have a first, second, and third field trip choice (or more) identified for each day before you register just in case your preferred field trips are not available.
❗️Click Field Trip Descriptions for details on each field trip including descriptions and expected species. The interactive Table of Contents makes it especially easy to use.
❗️Be sure you choose only one field trip per morning.
❗️Remember there are afternoon and evening activities.
❗️If booking morning and afternoon/ evening field trips on the same day, leave a half hour between so you can get to the departure point. Field trips leave as scheduled.
❗️You can register multiple people on one registration by adding your friends and family on the second page. You will need a unique email address and an emergency name and phone number for each.
❗️Make note of your registration confirmation number (created and emailed to you when you complete your registration) so you can enter that number if you need to make modifications at a later time.
❗️Sign up for our EBlasts on our website to receive important news and updates for 2026 and subsequent years (don't worry, we don't send out any spam or fluff!)

08/07/2026

🎨📢 Calling all young RGV artists and 📸photographers!

🎉RGVBF CONTESTS ARE OPEN
Eligible students: Grades 6–12

Learn more at RGVBF.org under Family & Children’s Events link

https://rgvbffamilyevents.myportfolio.com/

Check out 2025 Contestant Awards!

08/05/2026

🌿 Conservation Grants Now Open!

The 2026 Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival is accepting applications for this year’s Conservation Grant Program. Grant Awards will be announced during the festival Nov 11–15, 2026.

Apply at rgvbf.org
Submit to [email protected]

Eligible projects:
🦉 Bird & habitat conservation
📚 Environmental education
🔬 Avian research

Who can apply:
✔️ Non‑profits
✔️ Municipalities
✔️ Schools
✔️ Individuals

💰 Grants: $300–$15,000
⏰ Deadline: Sept 18, 2026
📢 Decisions: Oct 16, 2026
🏆 Awards: Oct 30, 2026


Let’s protect the birds and habitats that make the RGV extraordinary. 💚

07/28/2026

Have fun with 2026 Texas Bird Bingo while you wait for the eBlast email from 2026 RGV Birding Festival, remember to Sign Up! http://www.rgvbf.org/

📆 November 11-15, 2026
Harlingen Convention Center
📍701 Harlingen Heights Drive•Harlingen, TX

Special thanks to our Volunteers, Community Partners, Organizations, and Vendors who make this possible!
👏🏻👏🏻 👏🏻

07/12/2026

Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival congratulates Jose, the 2025 recipient of the Mary Gustafson Memorial Scholarship! This scholarship gave him the opportunity to attend the Rio Diablo Birding Camp this June 2026, where he explored incredible places across West Texas—including Devils River Preserve, Dolan Falls Preserve, and Dobbs Run Ranch.

For several years, the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival has proudly awarded this scholarship to a high school student with a true passion for birding. We’re honored to continue inspiring and supporting the next generation of birders in the RGV. 🐦💚

07/11/2026

The mascot for our upcoming 33rd annual Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival is none other than the subtly beautiful, shy, and fan favorite Groove-billed Ani! Our beautiful poster art this year was created by Jessica Monroe - read on below to learn more about Jessica and her art. We'll be releasing our full festival schedule including field trips and seminars in just a few short weeks, then registration will open on Saturday August 29th at noon central! Be sure to follow our page here for updates and sign up for our eBlasts on our website. Link in the comments below. We hope you're as excited as we are!!!

Jessica Monroe is best known for her large-scale oil paintings inspired by the natural world. Interested in using art as a means to bring awareness of environmental issues, Monroe creates paintings full of energy and movement, celebrating the beauty of her subject. Exploring delicate and endangered ecosystems, Monroe often works outdoors using watercolor, pastels and a camera, which inform her studio practice. Monroe holds a Bachelor of Arts from Southwestern University and studied painting at New York University and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is currently in the Masters of Art program through Falmouth University in Cornwall, UK, and collaborating with artists worldwide.

07/04/2026

Mark your calendars - participant registration for the 2026 Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival opens August 29, 2026 at 12pm noon central time! Want to win a free 2026 RGVBF T-shirt? Read on..

If you're planning on joining us this year, what species do you think our 2026 Bird of the Year artwork will feature?! Take a guess in the comments below and share this post to your personal page to have a shot at a free 2026 RGVBF T-shirt! We will choose a random winner next weekend when we reveal our Bird of the Year*. No, you don't have to get the species right to win, but here is a hint: we somehow let this sneaky RGV specialty species slip through the cracks and haven't EVER featured it as our Bird of the Year in our whole 34 year history!

*Winner will need to be in physical attendance at the 2026 festival to receive a free t-shirt.

06/19/2026

Happy summer, birders! We're past the halfway mark until our 2026 festival which runs November 11-15 and we're starting to get excited! We'll be posting our field trip schedule, seminar speakers, and other events a little later this summer with Festival Registration opening in August, so stay tuned for updates. Whether you plan to join us in Texas or not this year, consider supporting our festival while going on a spectacular trip to Panama with Sabrewing Nature Tours and veteran RGVBF guide Janice Travis! They have trips open now for registration for both November 2026 AND 2027!

Are You Attending the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival? 🐦

Why head home when the adventure can continue?

Join our "Panama: Canopy Camp: post tour with the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival and experience one of the Neotropics' premier birding destinations. Explore the remote Darién region in search of incredible species such as White-eared Conebill, Red-billed Scythebill, Gray-cheeked Nunlet, and Dusky-backed Jacamar. Highlights may include visiting an active Harpy Eagle nest and searching for the legendary Crested Eagle!

Don't let the birding end when the festival does! 🌿🦅

Learn more: https://sabrewingtours.com/tour/panana-canopy-camp-rgvbf/



📸 Fulvous-vented Euphonia by Tyler Ficker