The Rishii species of bird like people was first referenced as Canon in the character of Chieftan Gwarrk in the Star Wars Encyclopedia 2022 edition.

It would take until June 21st 2023 for them to first have their first physical appearance in the 35th issue of the Star Wars: Bounty Hunters comic series (2020 version), where for just a single panel, you can see a Rishii serving Boba Fett a drink on the Rishi Moon. Their appearance in the comic 1:1 matches their appearance in SWTOR’s Shadow of Revan expansion which added Rishi as a playable location.

However the Rishii species did not originate from Star Wars the Old Republic, infact the Rishii species were first seen in The Clone Wars: The Gauntlet of Death, a free childrens comic book that released in May of 2009, 5 years before they appeared in SWTOR, where the comic featured a character named Chieftan Gwarrk!
Gwarrk was not depicted in the same bird style as SWTOR or the Bounty Hunters comic, instead Gwarrk was depicted as an anthropomorphic Owl with a wooden crown and axe.

But the Rishi did not originate in the Clone Wars comic either, rather the species itself originated in Timothy Zahn’s Dark Force Rising novel which released in May of 1992! In the novel itself, they were only offhandedly mentioned in a few single sentences as an avian species with no extra information or visual appearance described.

Their brief appearance in the canon Bounty Hunters comic retains their appearance from SWTOR, keeping the small beak, head shape and wingspan, compared to the original 2009 Clone Wars comic that depicted them as Owl like creatures.

Timeline of the Rishi:
<Legends> Dark Force Rising 1992: An avian species named Rishii is described.
<Legends> The Clone Wars: Gauntlet of Death 2009: The Rishii species is given their first visual appearance as birdlike humanoids, some having Owl like heads.
<Legends> SWTOR Shadow of Revan 2014: The Rishii are given their first voice/speaking role as well as redesigned to have much more eagle shaped faces.
<Canon> Star Wars Encyclopedia 2022: Chieftan Gwarrk from the Gauntlet of Death comic is made canon in name and species only (no visual appearance) in the Encyclopedia.
<Canon> Bounty Hunters Comic #35 2023: The Rishii appear in a single comic frame next to Boba Fett and are drawn to their eagle-faced SWTOR appearance.