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Bird Counts

Bird populations are constantly changing. No scientist or team of scientists could possibly track the complicated patterns of movement of species around the world. That’s where citizen scientists can help!

Local Counts


2024 Winter Raptor Survey — Linda Moore, Compiler

Routes are registered with the Hawk Migration Association of North America (HMANA). If GPS information is provided, routes are entered into the database on their website. The data is then available for researchers or anyone to use. Access to the data can be found at www.hmana.org by clicking on research -> winter raptor survey-> view recent surveys.  Any of the surveys in New Mexico are the ones run here, covering a large area from the Arizona border into Otero County. A typical route takes most of a day to complete, and runs anywhere between 100 to 200 miles or even more.

On January 9, 2024, teams of raptor enthusiasts surveyed pre- determined routes for wintering raptors. A total of 12 species were seen, with 261 birds counted. These volunteers drove well over 1000 miles and spent 52 hours in the field, and that was only after they had arrived at the beginning of their often distant route. This total number of birds is consistent with the past five years, except for 2021 when only 135 birds were counted.

As usual, some routes produced a great number of raptors, while others were slim in number. This seems to vary from year to year, depending on the amount of rainfall and vegetation growth. This year the more southern routes produced a low number of birds. Jim Blurton overlayed the map of the current extreme drought area over the raptor routes, and found a correlation with the routes producing the fewest number of birds. In fact, the route from Silver City down to the Redrock area only produced 6 birds, while the Mangas Springs to Mule Creek route produced 68.

Red-tailed Hawks were the most numerous, with 138 counted, including an unusual Harlan’s Hawk observed at the Gila River. American Kestrels were next with 75 seen. More Golden Eagles were seen than in the past 5 years, with 15 counted. A White-tailed Kite was the most unusual species observed. Greater Roadrunners and Loggerhead Shrikes are also counted because they have been historically, with a corresponding 7 and 57 observed.

A heartfelt thank you to all who participated in this year’s survey, especially those who drove those long southern routes with few birds to be seen.


2024 GILA RIVER CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT Linda Moore, Compiler

The Gila River Christmas Bird Count was conducted on December 31, 2023. Twenty participants counted on 10 routes in spectacular weather. A total of 93 species were counted, with high numbers of Gambel’s Quail at 650, Yellow-rumped Warblers at 52, and Great-tailed Grackles at 96. The most unusual species noted was a Lark Sparrow, not commonly seen this time of year.

The highlight for the count was a Crested Caracara that had been seen two days previous to the count, verified with a photograph. While not able to officially count the species as it was not seen on count day, it was reported as a ‘count week’ bird, putting it for the first time on the official CBC list for the area. Additional count week birds were Western Screech Owl, Peregrine Falcon, Turkey Vulture, and Crissal Thrasher, all of which have been seen on previous counts but are unusual.

Several species were notably few in number. Where 758 American Robins were counted in 2022, this year produced only 54. Sparrow species also seemed on the low side this year, although White-crowned Sparrows tried to make up for it with 936 counted. Still, that was a far cry from their historical high of 2253. This points to the importance of trends over time when looking at species numbers, rather than one survey. The Gila River CBC has been conducted most years since 1972 and can give a good indication of trends for various species, although the number and ability of participants and time spent counting are variables that should be taken into consideration. Total number of birds for 2023 is 4037.

A huge thank you to all the participants who came out and counted birds instead of starting an early New Year's celebration!


2023 Winter Raptor Survey — Linda Moore, Compiler

Eight of the nine winter raptor survey routes were run in January, with one being canceled due to inclement weather and poor road conditions. These routes are registered with the Hawk Migration Association of North America (HMANA). If GPS information is provided, routes are entered into the database on their website. The data is then available for researchers or anyone to use. Access to the data can be found at www.hmana.org by clicking on research -> winter raptor survey-> view recent surveys.  Any of the surveys in New Mexico are the ones run here, covering a large area from the Arizona border into Otero County. A typical route takes most of a day to complete, and runs anywhere between 100 to 200 miles or even more.

The routes are typically run on the weekend of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, but this year the weather made some adjustments necessary. Still, there was a good showing of raptors, with a total of 253 raptors counted. The most numerous species, not surprisingly, is the red-tailed hawk, with 135 counted this year. American kestrels were the second most numerous with 81 counted. Other species seen were Northern harriers, Sharp-shinned hawks, Cooper’s hawks, Ferruginous, Bald and Golden eagles, Prairie falcons and Merlins. Our Otero county friend observed two Harris’ hawks, while a White-tailed kite was seen in the Bootheel, not the first time one has been seen there.

Greater roadrunners and Loggerhead shrikes are also counted as ‘honorary raptors’ since their habits are certainly prey based. These data are not entered into the database, but included just for fun. This year seven roadrunners were seen, and 21 shrikes. The shrike number is uncommonly low, as 69 were seen in 2020 as a high number with around 40 as the average seen yearly.


2022 SILVER CITY CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT John Gorey, Compiler

2022 was the 61st year the Silver City CBC was conducted. Weather was very cold early on but temperatures rebounded quickly and it was a pleasant sunny day. A total of 42 people participated with 29 along the 11 established routes and 13 people doing feeder counts.

2022: Species Count - 93 | Individual Birds - 6364

2021: Species Count - 85| Individual Birds - 5755

2020: Species Count - 106 | Individual Birds - 7490

Species counts were up 9%, and individuals were up 11% from 2021. This is an increase from the average by around 20%. Sometime in the future I will do a comparison of this increasing trend and the survey effort data to get a more accurate picture of how bird numbers have changed in the area. Rare birds were in fact rare in 2022.

Here is a list of unusual birds and count numbers from this year’s count:

Species | 2022 count | Average | Notes

Dark-eyed Junco | 232 | 584 | Second lowest count ever

Mexican Jay | 141 | 49 | Record high

Marsh Wren | 1 | <1 | First record since 2006

Rufous Hummingbird | 2 | <1 | 6th record

Belted Kingfisher | 4 | 1 | Record high

Black Phoebe | 8 | 2 | Record high

Woodhouse's Scrub Jay | 250 | 54 | Record high

Rock Wren | 14 | 2 | Record high by a lot

Cactus Wren | 19 | 5 | Record high by a lot

Townsend's Solitaire | 40 | 9 | Record high

Vesper Sparrow| 36 | 7 | Record high

Savannah Sparrow | 39 | 7 | Record high

As noted in the table, most Jay species had record years, as did wrens. Townsend’s Solitaire and Black Phoebes also had unusually high numbers. Dark-eyed Juncos were remarkably absent during the count. White-crowned sparrows which are often trending similar to Juncos were actually far above average in 2022.

Thank you to everyone who participated this year! We hope to see even more participants in the years to come! Stay tuned for a more detailed report in the following weeks. 

Access the full report here.


 

2022 GILA RIVER CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT Linda Moore, Compiler

The Gila River Christmas Bird Count was conducted on December 31, 2022 after dodging multiple and varying weather forecasts. The day was lovely for the count, with calm winds and a low temperature in the mid-20's and a high in the mid-60's. Sixteen observers ventured out in the field to identify and count birds prior to welcoming in a new year.

Rare and unusual birds were scarce this year, with a dusky flycatcher and 2 orange-crowned warblers being the most uncommon. The 5 vermillion flycatchers seen were on the high side of previous counts. High counts were also noted for 7 other species – Gila woodpecker, Woodhouse scrub jay, Juniper titmouse, Hermit thrush, White-throated sparrow, Northern cardinal and Great-tailed grackles.

Comparing the 2022 CBC with recent year counts, the total number of individual birds was much higher. In 2019 with 6 routes covered, there were 77 species and 1655 individual birds counted. 2020 was 8 routes with 101 species and 4566 birds, 2021 had 10 routes with 105 species and 3456 birds, and 2022 10 routes with 92 species and 5215 individual birds counted.



2021 GILA RIVER CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT Linda Moore, Compiler
→ Read the Report


2021 SILVER CITY CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT John Gorey, Compiler


2020 WINTER RAPTOR COUNT Linda Moore, Compiler
Nine teams of raptor enthusiasts identified and counted as many raptors as possible on 10 routes, driving over 1300 miles, in 63 hours produced 13 species & 295 individual birds. Northern Harrier 20; Coopers Hawk 7; Red-tailed Hawk 182; Ferruginous Hawk 9; Bald Eagle 4; Golden Eagle 5; American Kestrel 59; Prairie Falcon 1; Merlin 3; Peregrine Falcon 1; Raptor species 1; Great Horned Owl 2; Turkey Vulture 1.

2020 SILVER CITY CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT John Gorey, Compiler


2016 - 2017 SILVER CITY CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT Roland Shook, Compiler


1997 - 2015 SILVER CITY CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNTS


Annual Bird Counts & Citizen Science Projects


Useful Bird Count Links


eBird Pro Tip: Bird Counting 101

Have trouble counting birds, especially large numbers? We all do. Find out everything you need to learn how to count with confidence - Bird Counting 101