RMBO has released Wintering Grassland Bird Densities in Chihuahuan Desert Grassland Priority Conservation Areas, 2007-2011documenting bird abundance, distribution, habitat use and other information collected over five years in three U.S. and six Mexican states.
Six years ago in late August, Rich Levad, Rob Sparks, Jason Beason and Ken Behrens hiked through spruce fir forest to a spot just above timberline where a Black Swift nest clung to a wet, rocky outcrop. The outing was part of Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory’s effort to collect baseline data on this little-known species. When no swifts were seen that evening, the scientists wondered if they had already started migrating – and where did they go?
The last bird that breeds in the U.S. and Canada with an unknown winter destination has finally given up its secret. After years of research – and with some luck – three Colorado researchers have learned that Black Swifts travel more than 4,000 miles to spend the winter in Brazil.
Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory’s International Team is monitoring and banding birds in the Chihuahuan Desert grasslands in northern Mexico with the help of 26 local field techs the team trained in early January.
The new Fall/Winter edition of The All-Bird Bulletin features five stories about RMBO’s work. See pages 12 -16 to read: “New Model Identifies Bird Habitat Use at Multiple Scales,” “‘Boots on the Ground’ Expands Habitat Conservation,” “Taking Outreach from the Land to the Classroom Builds Future Conservation Ethic,” “Critical Chihuahuan Desert Grasslands Rapidly Give Way to the Plow” and “Integrated Monitoring in Bird Conservation Regions (IMBCR)”.
Twenty-six volunteers tallied 68 species of birds across parts of Adams and Weld counties on January 2 for the Barr Lake Christmas Bird Count.
Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory will sponsor the Barr Lake Christmas Bird Count (CBC) on January 2, one of 48 CBC circles being surveyed in Colorado during the holiday season. The count is open to birders of all skill levels. Last year in the Barr Lake circle, 21 volunteers counted 27,446 birds of 63 species.
Birders heading for Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge will find Birding Hot Spots of Central New Mexico a handy guide, covering birding areas from just north of Albuquerque south to the refuge, one of the best-known in the country.
Forty people from as far away as Montana and Texas were in Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory’s Fort Collins office for three days last week to strategize on how to best accomplish seamless bird monitoring across the western landscape.
