Chestnut Sided Warbler Costilla

[Luke Pheneger]

Hi all,

Yesterday, Jeff, Jeina Livingston, and I had a Chestnut-sided Warbler at Rito Seco Park in Costilla County. The exact pin was here (37.2533571, -105.3312214). This is a first eBird record for the county. I looked for the bird a bit this morning but could not refind it. That said, I think the area is well worth additional coverage, both for the Chestnut-sided Warbler and other late migrants. The site could be somewhat of a “breeder trap”, with a dense willowy oasis bordering a diverse conifer forest. 

Also present at the park was a calling Swainson’s Thrush, which represented just the fourth eBird record for the county. Costilla gets very little eBird coverage away from Smith Reservoir, so species that breed locally but aren’t common in the valley are often underrepresented there. For example, last year Sean Huntley, Archer Silverman, and I had Flammulated Owl, Northern Saw-whet Owl, Long Eared Owl, and Northern Pygmy-Owl along a single road, all of which had less than 3 eBird records at the time. I bring this up not to brag, but to illustrate just how much of the county remains underbirded. If you’re looking to contribute eBird data to a region of the state that truly lacks coverage, consider exploring Costilla.

Luke Pheneger

Longmont

[Chris H]

Female, I presume? 

Chris Hobbs

Lenexa KS

chob...@gmail.com 

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From: cob...@googlegroups.com <cob...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Luke Pheneger <pheneg...@gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, June 4, 2026 5:42:46 PM
To: Colorado Birds <Cob...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [cobirds] Chestnut Sided Warbler Costilla

 

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