113th CBC New Mexico Regional Summary

By John W. Shipman and Christopher M. Rustay

Christopher Rustay, one of New Mexico's more active field observers, began serving as co-regional editor this year.  With this increase in leadership, we hope to engage ever more with local compilers in an effort to ensure the quality of our CBC data remains high.  We welcome his participation.

New Mexico counters surveyed 30 circles this season, down from 31 last year; the Gila River circle returned, but the Chaco and Maxwell circles did not.  Total species seen this year were 225, just one above last year's count and well short of the all-time high of 244 set seven years ago.  The all-time checklist was unchanged this year at 332 species.  Albuquerque, not usually one of the leaders in species count, had the most with 122; other notably diverse circles included Caballo with 120, Bosque del Apache with 119, Las Cruces with 108, Roswell with 105, and Loving with 101.

The statewide total of individuals was about 389,000, sharply lower than last year's 446,000 and the all-time high of 500,000 from the 99th CBC.  Bosque del Apache contributed over 85,000 of these, followed by Roswell with over 58,000 and Albuquerque with over 41,000.

Looking for patterns this season, a few species stood out as lingering to the north.  Wood Ducks were found all along the upper Rio Grande Valley; Killdeer remained in the Dixon, Espanola, and Orilla Verde circles; two Orange-crowned Warblers were in Albuquerque; and Espanola counters found a Common Yellowthroat.

Among species that are usually gone in the winter were American White Pelicans, now wintering in the lower Rio Grande and Pecos valleys; two Dunlin seen all winter in the Bosque circle; single Vermilion Flycatchers in the Lakes Avalon-Brantley and Roswell circles; and Gray Catbirds in Dixon and Bosque.  It is unclear whether the larger numbers of shorebirds are related to the warmer weather, or to the increase in shorebird habitat as the larger reservoirs such as Caballo shrink.

Turning to cases where species seem to be spreading out, the New Mexico Game & Fish Department has been augmenting Wild Turkey populations all over the state, and they breed now in the Sandia Mountains.  Harris's Hawks are now established in the Tularosa Valley around Alamogordo.  Eurasian Collared-Dove numbers were up in the north (Clayton, Dixon, and Espanola), and White-winged Dove was finally added to the Zuni circle's cumulative checklist, although there was a count-week record last year.

Sparrows remained further north later in the early winter season but in low numbers, particularly in the east where the drought has been most extreme.  Meanwhile Lesser Goldfinch has been increasing northward in winter, but the number of mostly undetailed reports in areas far to the north is unprecedented in both scope and size.  We hope to see more details next year.

Among irruptive species, it was a good year for Ferruginous and Rough-legged hawk sightings statewide.  And White-winged Juncos appeared in the Clayton, Dixon, and Zuni circles.

Possibly due to the generally low water levels in the north, many duck numbers were low there.  American Wigeons were missing in Farmington for the first time in 46 years, and several northern circles uncharacteristically missed Northern Shoveler, Northern Pintail, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, and American Coot.  Bosque del Apache had their first count without a Ring-necked Pheasant in 60 years.  Black-billed Magpie numbers were low in Espanola and Las Vegas.  Las Cruces missed Rock Wren for the first time in 38 years.

Lastly, a nice list of rarities adds spice to all these dry numbers.  The Espanola and Lakes Avalon-Brantley circles featured out-of-place Barrow's Goldeneyes, and the latter circle also had a Red-throated Loon.  Jim Findley photographed an American Woodcock in the Albuquerque circle.  The Gila River circle had a Ruddy Ground-Dove.  A Magnificent Hummingbird was in Silver City, out of its usual range.  The Carlsbad Caverns circle's Red-bellied Woodpecker gratified many birders for some time, as did Bosque's two Carolina Wrens.  The Pacific Wren on the Sandia Mountains count testifies to our observers' careful attention to this recent split from Winter Wren, and the details included call types.  A Varied Thrush in Zuni sang at length.  The Las Cruces circle had a female Northern Parula.  Of the several Pine Warblers that appeared in different locations in Albuquerque all winter, two were seen on their count; another of this species that appeared in the Carlsbad Caverns circle also persisted for some time.