PEEC Amateur Naturalist: Part 3 – What Is Happening To The Birds Of Northern New Mexico?

Submitted by Chris Clark
on May 3, 2016
- 10:08 pm

PEEC Amateur Naturalist: Part 3―What Is Happening To The Birds Of Northern New Mexico?

By BOB DRYJA

Los Alamos

We have been considering the results of the Christmas Bird Count for Los Alamos and other areas in northern New Mexico.

Previously we had considered those species that had been unique to Los Alamos and each of the other five areas in the count. We now consider the 44 species that are common across all six areas. The presence of a species in all six areas indicates that it is flexible for its type of habitat. Elevation, temperature, moisture, plant and insect life may vary but the species are adapted for these different conditions.

However, how “common” is “common”? TABLE I shows that the Dark-eyed junco is the most commonly seen species in the Los Alamos area. It also is the most commonly seen in the Questa area which is 200 feet higher in elevation. How it drops to the 6 th most commonly seen species in the Santa Fe area. Santa Fe is 100 feet lower in elevation.

TABLE I also shows the Pygmy Nuthatch as the second most commonly seen species in the Los Alamos area. However is in 23rd or 29th place when the Santa Fe or Questa areas are considered.

TABLE II presents an alternative way of considering what is meant by “common”. The Dark-eyed junco is ranked as in 1st place for both the Los Alamos and Questa areas. However about 20 juncos are seen per hour of observation for the Questa area while about 13 juncos per hour are seen for the Los Alamos area. Juncos rank in 10 th place in the Dixon area. About one junco per hour is seen, far less when compared to Questa and Los Alamos. The Dark-eyed junco therefore ranks among the top ten species but its actual count can vary significantly from area to area.

CHART I provides a visual way to interpret what is meant by “common”. It shows that the twenty most commonly seen bird species in the Los Alamos area vary from about 0.4 per hour to 13 per hour. Note that these are equivalent to seeing from 4 to 130 members of a species during a ten hour day. (A total of 1,020 Dark-eyed juncos were actually seen by all the observers throughout the Los Alamos area during the Christmas Bird Count.) Perhaps it is better to think in terms of “common” to “super-common”.

The following three bird species are among the common species. First, the Steller’s jay lives in coniferous and coniferous-deciduous forests. This kind of habitat is common throughout the mountains of New Mexico and therefore the Steller’s jay can be common. The Steller’s jay additionally can live in the arid pine-oak woodland of the southwest. This other kind of habitat further helps them to be a common species. Steller’s jay may become less common if its forest habitat becomes less widespread in coming decades as a result of further climate warming.

Second, song sparrows live in deciduous or mixed woodlands, pinyon pine forests, aspen parklands, chaparral, and desert scrub. These are all habitats found throughout New Mexico. Song sparrows also are found in tidal marshes, arctic grasslands, prairie shelterbelts, Pacific rain forest, agricultural fields, overgrown pastures, freshwater marsh and lake edges, forest edges, and suburbs. This is very flexible species for the kind of habitats in which it can. It therefore may not be as affected by climate change when compared to the Steller’s jay.

Third, the house sparrow is adapted to living in cities and town and so can live anywhere people live. It was first introduced to North America when eight pairs were released in Brooklyn New York in 1851. Additional introductions occurred to other areas of the country in the coming decades.

It was considered to be nuisance by the end of the 19 th century as a result of increasing numbers. A patented Sparrow trap was being sold by the early 20th century. An estimated 150 million sparrows were flying throughout North America by 1943.