Rare ‘Blue Bunting’ bird spotted at Laguna Atascosa

LOS FRESNOS, Texas (ValleyCentral) — A bird rare to the Rio Grande Valley was recently spotted at the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge.

Known as the Blue bunting it has drawn in visitors from afar. The bird is a strikingly blue bird from Mexico and Central America.

It is not native to the Rio Grande Valley, thus making its presence here a sight to behold.

George Garcia, Visitor Services Manager at Laguna Atascosa, said "It’s extremely rare, and a lot of people have been coming here in large numbers to try to find this one bird. The individual that saw it was on Monday, so it’s been here, we just had a confirmed sighting today.”

Photographer Ken Blackford was the first this year to spot and snapshot the elusive bird, with others hoping to catch their picture.

George said he’s not surprised, noting that there are “more bird species that occur on our refuge than any other National Wildlife refuge in the U.S.”

He added these boosts in tourism help fund their operation at Laguna Atascosa. With the funding, they’re expanding into 5,000 acres of recently acquired farmland to rewild and maintain.

The habitat they’re expanding is home to the endangered ocelot, which George refers to as “an umbrella species”, or a species that upholds the ecosystem around them.

This expansion and protection for the ocelot, in turn, allows natives like Texas tortoises and others to better prosper in the area and draw in rare visitors like the Blue bunting.