Every February birders from all walks of life and around the globe come together to count birds in their favorite outdoor spaces in an attempt to understand how climate change is affecting avian behavior.
Dubbed the Great Backyard Bird Count, the massive annual citizen-led science data project took place from Friday, Feb. 13, through Monday, Feb. 16 this year.
The numbers are now in and KUNM analyzed the data to figure out which birds were seen the most – and least – in New Mexico.
Because they like to winter in New Mexico, migratory birds dominated the 25 most observed species over the four day event – with birders counting over 10,000 snow geese and 2000 sandhill cranes.
Similarly, birders also logged hundreds of American crows, red-winged blackbirds, and lark buntings during the official count.
The event encourages people to set aside at least 15 minutes to log species in the Merlin ID application or the online eBird tool.
While people might assume they will mostly see common birds, researchers like Becca Radomski-Bish with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, which created the Merlin app, insist that counting those everyday birds helps scientists understand extreme temperatures, agricultural uses, and their effects on migratory patterns.
“People go: ‘Oh, you don’t want to know about my robins, chickadees, my crows…’ No, we actually do,” said Radomski-Bish. “The more data we have, the more we can begin to answer some of those questions.”
And, of course, birders are always on the prowl for rare species to add to their precious “lifer” list.
During the Great Backyard Bird Count there were 40 unique individual sightings, including a Mexican spotted owl, golden eagle, and even a northern parula, a rare treat here in the Southwest.
Unsurprisingly, the top bird hotspots were the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge outside of San Antonio, the Rio Grande Nature Center State Park and Albuquerque’s Alameda Open Space.
Cornell launched the citizen-science project back in 1998 to collect bird sightings and sounds to inform research – some of which is happening right here in the Southwest.
In January, scientists at the Cornell lab partnered with the University of New Mexico and the U.S. Forest Service on research that found high-severity wildfires pose a big threat in the near future to diverse “bird hotspots” in the Western U.S. These hotspot areas are crucial refuges for birds in times of drought and sweltering temperatures.
After using publicly gathered bird distribution data from eBird and advanced fire forecasting, researchers created maps showing where fire will most likely impact birds.
“Here in northern New Mexico, there are a couple of hot spots that are predicted to burn at high severity on the Santa Fe National Forest and on the Carson National Forest,” said biological scientist Carrie Norman, who spearheaded the project at the Forest Service’s Rocky Mountain Research Station.
Norman's team learned that up to 30% of bird diversity hotspots are at-risk from being destroyed by large wildfires across the Western U.S.
Norman said some species will be impacted more than others simply because of where their breeding grounds are located – such as the flammulated owl and the brown-capped rosy-finch.
But, it’s not all doom and gloom. Norman said other birds may actually benefit from more fire.
“So, the white headed woodpecker or the mountain quail, they love fire,” Norman told KUNM. “They love to be bopping around in these sort of austere post-fire landscapes.”
The study, which focuses on birds that choose a specific place every year to breed, stresses the need for targeted management to reduce the impacts of future fire.
“It’s not just that this fire can impact a species in the area where it burns, but also potentially dynamics elsewhere – outside of the breeding or non-breeding season, when they've migrated to their other home,” Norman said.
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology said it will release a more comprehensive report of the Great Backyard Bird Count sometime in mid-March.
Next year’s count will likely begin on February 12 and last until February 15. You can check here for updates.
