Hooded warblers nest in Los Alamos County for third year running

Hooded warblers have nested in Los Alamos County for three straight years, turning a one-off rarity into a nesting pattern with real conservation weight. The latest nest was found along the Upper Water Canyon Trail, only about 250 feet from last year’s site, in a dense patch of small oaks and wild rose.

The birds were seen Friday morning carrying food into the cover, and the nest was later located with the female sitting tightly on it, a sign there were likely very young nestlings inside. That matters because hooded warblers are not supposed to be common here: these remain the only confirmed hooded warbler nesting records ever found in New Mexico, and the nearest nesting population is in eastern Texas, roughly 700 miles away.

The county’s run began in 2024, when hooded warblers nested along Reservoir Road in Los Alamos County and fledged one young. That nest was reported as the first confirmed nesting of the species in New Mexico. In 2025, the birds returned to Upper Water Canyon, about 3.1 miles from the 2024 site, and a June 2025 eBird checklist noted a male there from June 3 onward.

Earlier records show how closely observers have been tracking the species. An eBird checklist from June 22, 2024 recorded a male singing in Upper Los Alamos Canyon, and a September 8, 2024 checklist described both adult birds remaining near the nest site, within about 100 feet of the nest. Those observations helped build the case that the county was seeing not just a passing migrant, but a breeding bird establishing a foothold.

That makes the habitat itself part of the story. Cornell Lab of Ornithology says hooded warblers typically nest in shrubby understory habitat, lay 2 to 5 eggs, incubate for about 12 days and spend about 8 to 9 days in the nestling stage. Audubon describes the species as a bird of moist leafy woodlands in the eastern United States, wintering in Mexico and Central America, which helps explain why New Mexico nesting records are so unusual.

The New Mexico Ornithological Society says its Field Notes publication documents unusual records and breeding-range changes, and this county’s repeated sightings fit that kind of record closely. For Los Alamos County, the birds are more than a birding curiosity: they point to a specific canyon habitat that is supporting a highly unusual species, while also underscoring the need for careful trail use and habitat stewardship around active nesting areas.