Important Bird Areas are sites which provide essential breeding, migrating or wintering habitat for one or more species of bird. They are generally discrete sites that support one or more high-priority species, large concentrations of birds, exceptional habitat, and/or have substantial research value. Such sites may be protected or unprotected, public or private, and any size amenable to conservation efforts.

The primary goals of the IBA program are to: (1) identify and designate key sites for the birds; (2) establish priorities jointly with land managers; (3) activate public participation in bird conservation efforts; and (4) provide public education and outreach.

The aim of the IBA program is to provide landowners, planners, developers, regulators, conservationists, and other interested parties with information on where the birds are, in order to support sound land use decisions. The results of the IBA program can be used in determining local, county, and state conservation priorities. IBA information allows different areas to be compared by using several criteria: the area’s importance to birds; the nature and urgency of threats; and the feasibility of implementing conservation actions.

The IBA program has no regulatory authority. Identification of a site as an IBA imposes no legal restrictions or management requirements on any property, but can affect land-use planning at the local level. They should not be viewed as the only sites important to birds, or as the only sites needing protection. They are voluntary means of attaining local conservation by building and mobilizing networks of landowners, birders and environmentalists. The best conservation planning involves all stakeholders.

Nominations may be made by anyone. Any site, which may be important for birds, is appropriate for nomination. Contact Audubon New Mexico  for a site nomination form or download a nomination form.

See a map of the state or get a listing of IBA sites. A Microsoft Word Trifold of the IBAS is available for downloading.

NEW MEXICO ECO-REGIONS
There are four Biological Conservation Regions (BCRs) in New Mexico: Sierra Madre Occidental, Chihuahuan Desert, Southern Rocky Mountains, and Shortgrass Prairie. These are shown on the map.

Sierra Madre Occidental
The Sierra Madre Occidental mountain range runs northwest to southeast parallel to the Pacific Coast from the Mogollon Rim and isolated mountain ranges in southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico through Sonora to central Mexico, where it connects with the Sur del Altiplano Mexicano. It is characterized by high elevations and a complex topography with the presence of oak-pine, pine, and fir forests along the mountain range and of semiarid scrub habitats on eastern slopes. In Mexico there are more than 20 IBAs in this BCR while in New Mexico we have 7 accepted sites (2 in the Animas mountains, 2 in the Peloncillos Mountains, 2 along the Gila River, and 1 in the Gila Wilderness area) and 3 proposed sites (2 in the Gila Wilderness area and 1 on the Gila River).  New Mexico threatened species in this BCR are the Common Ground-Dove, Buff-collared Nightjar, Elegant Trogon, Northern Beardless Tyrannulet, Willow Flycatcher (Southwestern), and Thick-billed Kingbird.  Endangered species include Common Black-Hawk, Gould's Wild Turkey, Whiskered Screech-Owl, Broad-billed Hummingbird, White-eared Hummingbird, Violet-crowned Hummingbird, Lucifer Hummingbird, Costa's Hummingbird, Gila Woodpecker, Bell's Vireo, Gray Vireo, Abert's Towhee, Baird's Sparrow, Arizona Grasshopper Sparrow, Yellow-eyed Junco, and Varied Bunting.  Other Partners in Flight priority species include Zone-tailed Hawk, Elf Owl, Spotted Owl (S. o. lucida), Whip-poor-will (C. v. arizonae), Montezuma Quail, Strickland's Woodpecker, Brown-crested Flycatcher, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Hutton's Vireo, Bendire's Thrasher, Crissal Thrasher, Mexican Chickadee, Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, Verdin, Black-throated Gray Warbler, Lucy's Warbler, Red-faced Warbler, Painted Redstart, Olive Warbler, Botteri's Sparrow, Black-chinned Sparrow, Hooded Oriole, Summer Tanager, and Yellow-eyed Junco.  Most of the uplands in New Mexico are publicly owned, but lower-elevation grasslands and riparian habitat are subject to development and conversion. The whole region is an important corridor for migration of many species in the west. Riparian and wetland areas in lowlands support many in-transit migrants as well as breeding birds.

Chihuahuan Desert
The Chihuahuan Desert stretches from the Sierra Madre Occidental in the west to the more lush scrub habitat of the Edwards Plateau and Tamaulipan Brushlands in the east, and from the Southern Great Plains to the north and over much of the central Mexican Plateau. Arid grasslands and shrublands cover broad basins, and higher elevation oak-juniper woodlands and conifers occur in numerous isolated mesas and mountains. The Río Grande and adjacent wetlands provide important habitat for wading birds, waterfowl, and other riparian and wetland-dependent birds. In New Mexico, IBAs are home to Western Grebe, Clark’s Grebe, Neotropic Cormorant, White-faced Ibis, Wood Duck, Osprey, Bald Eagle, Ferruginous Hawk, Prairie Falcon, Aplomado Falcon, Gambel's Quail, Mountain Plover, Snowy Plover, Long-billed Curlew, American Avocet, Upland Sandpiper, Wilson's Phalarope, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Red-naped Sapsucker, Cave Swallow, Bank Swallow, Gray Flycatcher, Dusky Flycatcher, Willow Flycatcher, Cordilleran Flycatcher, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Verdin, Crissal Thrasher, Bell’s Vireo, Plumbeous Vireo, Gray Vireo, Lucy's Warbler, MacGillivray's Warbler, Green-tailed Towhee, Baird's Sparrow, Black-chinned Sparrow, Rufous-crowned Sparrow, Sage Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, Lark Bunting, Sprague's Pipit, Summer Tanager, and Scott's Oriole.

Southern Rocky Mountains
This topographically complex region includes the Wasatch and Uinta Mountains to the west and the Southern Rocky Mountains to the east, separated by the rugged tableland of the Colorado Plateau. Various coniferous forest types interspersed with aspen dominate higher elevations. These are replaced by piñon-juniper woodlands on the lower plateaus. Important birds also segregate into elevational bands.  Alpine tundra provides habitat for Brown-capped Rosy-Finch, Boreal Owl, and White-tailed Ptarmigan. Red-naped Sapsucker, Williamson's Sapsucker, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Plumbeous Vireo, Virginia's Warbler, Grace's Warbler, Hammond's Flycatcher, Cordilleran Flycatcher, and Pygmy Nuthatch prefer pine/conifer woodland. Virginia’s Warbler, Zone-tailed Hawk, Lewis’ Woodpecker, Dusky Flycatcher, Gray Flycatcher, Townsend's Solitaire, Black-throated Gray Warbler, Western Bluebird, Mountain Bluebird, Piñon Jay, Sage Thrasher, , Black-chinned Sparrow, and Green-tailed Towhee occupy montane shrub sites. Most of the world’s breeding Gray Vireo nest in piñon-juniper. High arid plains and dry upland short-grass prairies provide critical areas for Mountain Plover, Rufous-crowned Sparrow,. Brewer's Sparrow, Sage Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, Chestnut-collared Longspur, Lapland Longspur, Scott's Oriole, Verdin, Bendire's Thrasher, Crissal Thrasher, Rough-legged Hawk, Ferruginous Hawk, Golden Eagle, Prairie Falcon, and Burrowing Owl.  Wetlands and surrounding uplands support nesting waterfowl and provide migration habitat for Western Grebe, Clark's Grebe, White-faced Ibis, Wood Duck, Redhead, American Avocet, American White Pelican, Osprey, Bald Eagle, Peregrine Falcon, Marbled Godwit, Wilson's Phalarope, Sandhill Crane, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, American Dipper, Bank Swallow, Willow Flycatcher, and MacGillivray's Warbler.  Whip-poor-will, Red-faced Warbler, and Olive Warbler are at their northernmost point at the southern tip of the Rockies.  

Shortgrass Prairie
The Short-grass Prairie lies in the rain shadow of the Rocky Mountains, where arid conditions greatly limit the stature and diversity of vegetation. Some of the continent’s highest priority birds breed in this area. Reasons for the precarious status of these birds are poorly understood. For migrants, it is possible that conditions on wintering grounds could also be having a negative impact. Numerous rivers drain out of the Rocky Mountains through this region toward the Mississippi Valley and Gulf of Mexico. These rivers created broad, braided, and treeless wetlands that are heavily used by migrating waterfowl, shorebirds, and cranes. Hydrological changes have resulted in the invasion of trees and shrubs that support breeding eastern riparian birds and otherwise greatly reduce the value of the areas as wetlands. The Playa Lakes area in the southern portion of this region consists of numerous shallow wetlands that support many wintering ducks, migrant shorebirds, and some important breeding species. Priority species that rely on this area include Snow Goose, Ross' Goose, Mallard, Green-winged Teal, American Wigeon, Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, Mississippi Kite, Bald Eagle, Ferruginous Hawk, Snowy Plover, Mountain Plover, Killdeer, Long-billed Curlew, American Avocet, Wilson's Phalarope , Sandhill Crane, Least Tern, Gambel's Quail, Lesser Prairie-chicken, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Red-headed Woodpecker, Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, Townsend's Solitaire, Brown Thrasher, Crissal Thrasher, Bell's Vireo, Rufous-crowned Sparrow, Sage Sparrow, and Lark Bunting.

Mountain ranges are located in these ecoregions and rivers can be within a single ecoregion or span a number of ecoregions.

TYING IBAs TOGETHER
At the International IBA Conference held in Sierra Vista, Arizona in August 2004, a number of the Audubon State Directors developed a memo that discussed the concept of tying IBA areas together between states and countries.

“We need a conservation strategy that identifies the best conservation opportunities, critical partnerships, and critical linkages along migratory routes within and across international boundaries. While Audubon will inevitably focus on the implementation through state programs, we came away with heightened awareness that the ultimate payoff for birds, conservation, and Audubon is to connect effectively with multi-state/regional ventures, to national bird conservation priorities, and perhaps especially to hemispheric programs that are doing amazing things with astonishingly limited resources. We suggest that investing in mapping out a strategy for adding up the parts into a whole is a key component of long-term success, both on the ground and with potential supporters.”

The same concept is being applied within the state of New Mexico using IBA sites on major migratory routes.

Within the state there are major geographic features that influence the bird populations.  The various rivers in the state are highways during bird migration. Bird populations cannot be counted along the entirety of these rivers. However certain areas along the river have public access and can provide a variety of “snapshots” of bird life.  Taking these “snapshots” and extrapolating for the bird population along the river can then be done.

An example is the Rio Grande.  Access can be gained at Rio Grande Gorge (the upper box and Orilla Verde), Los Luceros Historic Area, Bandelier NM, Cochiti Lake, Corrales Bosque, Rio Grande Nature Center, Ladd S. Gordon Waterfowl Complex, Bosque del Apache, Elephant Butte, Caballo Lake, Percha Dam, Leesburg State Park, and the Old Refuge. From these sites and knowing the habitats along the river, an extrapolated estimate of bird species and densities can be determined, this providing an idea of the importance of the area to species of concern.

A similar situation would exist along all the major rivers in the state. It should be possible to do the same thing for the various mountain chains, grasslands, and deserts within the state.

IDENTIFIED SPECIES OF CONCERN
A number of entities have identified species of particular concern based on criteria such as low numbers, restricted habitat, declining populations, etc. The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish has a list of Endangered/ Threatened/ Concern on their website (www.wildlife.state.nm.us/conservation/threatened_endangered_species/index.htm). New Mexico Partners in Flight (PIF) has assigned risk factors to all species of landbirds (http://www.nmpartnersinflight.org/).  The composite list is available here.

NEW MEXICO IBA CRITERIA

1. Sites that regularly support significant breeding or non-breeding densities of one or more of the species listed as endangered or threatened  in the state of New Mexico.

2. Sites with habitats that are rare or unique in the state, or are exceptional examples (large and intact) of a habitat supporting the full complement of bird species.

3. Sites that regularly hold significant numbers of one or more species, breeding or non-breeding, including migration. The following guidelines provide thresholds for site selection. Except where indicated, numerical estimates should be based on a short period of time, e.g. one-time counts such as daily surveys - not on cumulative totals.

• Waterfowl: The site regularly supports 2000 or more waterfowl (short period total).
• The site is a "bottleneck" or migration corridor for 2000 or more raptors (seasonal total).
• The site regularly supports 100 or more shorebirds at one time (short period total).
• The site regularly supports 25 or more pairs of long-legged wading birds (herons, egrets, ibises).
• The site is an important migratory stopover or seasonal concentration site for migratory landbirds. Sites may have exceptionally high numbers of birds during migration, high densities of breeding species, or be "migrant traps".
• The site regularly supports significant concentrations of a "congregatory" species but may not meet the thresholds above.

4. Long-term research and/or monitoring sites that contribute substantially to ornithology, bird conservation, and/or education.

LAND OWNERSHIP

The cooperation and participation of private landowners and public managers is key to the success of the IBA Program. When considering any site as an IBA, great discretion should be exercised in order to respect the rights and authority of landowners and managers, and to avoid the creation or perception of potential conflict. Audubon is not interested in selecting sites or creating stewardship recommendations for private landowners or public land managers without their consent and participation in the IBA project. The IBA Program offers potential recognition and assistance for good land stewardship, and should be used to foster trust and cooperation with land owners and managers.

Please keep the following points in mind when nominating a site.

1.Whenever possible and/or practical, private landowners and/or public land managers:

• should be notified in person if their land is being considered as a potential IBA.
• should be invited to participate in the IBA process.
• should be consulted before a site is positively identified as an IBA. "Identified" means that a site has been found, on a scientific basis, to meet the IBA selection criteria.
• should give permission before any information is made public, or any site is formally "designated" as an IBA.
• should be given every opportunity to participate in any discussions concerning their land, especially conservation planning or habitat management.

2. Volunteers should never trespass on private property or enter public lands unauthorized. Always respect property rights and posted signs and never engage in activities likely to arouse suspicion or hostility.

3. If you encounter any negative reaction, or even anticipate such a reaction, on the part of a landowner or land manager, contact the IBA Coordinator. Do not try to pursue contact on your own if you are unsure of the response.

SITE SUMMARIES

A summary of each IBA appears on the web at (http://nm.audubon.org/iba/nmibamap.html). [Each dot represents and IBA that can be called up by clicking on the dot. Hovering over the dot produces the site name.] The summaries were compiled from information submitted in nomination forms, from published and unpublished literature, from interviews, and from birding population data available on the web. The information in the summaries is arranged under the following headings.

Status: The status of the site as an IBA.  The site can be accepted or proposed and complete or incomplete.

County: The county or counties in which the site resides.

Town: The nearest town(s) of any size and that can be found on most maps.

Size: The area of the site, in acres and hectares.

Elevation: The approximate average elevation of the site in feet and meters. For sites with a very high range of elevations, the lowest and highest are listed.

Location: The longitude and latitude (in degrees and minutes) of the approximate center of the site.

Owner: The name(s), address(es), and phone number(s) of the landowner(s) for the site.

Habitats: The habitats present at the site in order of dominance or the percentage of the site.  P for the Primary habitat type (covers 50% of the site) or an S for a Secondary habitat type (covers <50% of the site).

Land use(s): The land use of the site in order of dominance or the percentage of the site.

Threats: A list of the conservation issues (invasive or non-native plants, introduced animals, cowbird parasitism, predators, pollution, habitat conservation, development, disturbance to birds or habitat, hydrologic changes), that impact, or potentially impact, bird populations or habitat at the site.

Site Criteria:

• New Mexico endangered and threatened species
• Partners in Flight priority species
• Rare, unique, or representative habitat
• Significant concentrations: 2000+waterfowl; 2000+raptors; 100+shorebirds; 50+long-legged waders; landbirds; single-species concentrations
• Long-term research and/or monitoring

Site Description: A brief narrative description of the site, including its general location, major features and landforms, key habitats, present use of the site, and any other essential information such as any significant social, cultural, economic, or historic issues associated with this site.

Birds: A succinct statement of why this site is important for birds, and for what species or groups the site is important. Other interesting notes on birds that have occurred at the site, including species historically occurring but now extirpated, rare occurrences, or indicators of great diversity.

Conservation Issues: A narrative description of the most significant conservation issues facing bird populations or the habitat at the site.

Conservation Plans: Description of any conservation measures known for the site. Information on whether the site has any special designation or protection (e.g. as a park, conservation area, etc.). Any conservation or management plans that exist for the site or that are currently being developed.

Monitor(s): The name, address, phone, and fax of the person(s) who are monitoring the site.

Nominator: The name, address, phone, and fax of the person who nominated the site.

Sources: A list of sources for the data provided for species or groups of species.

Directions: Directions for reaching the site (using readily identifiable landmarks). Privately owned sites may not have directions.

Species/Group Data:

Species or Group Name: The full name of each species or group of species for which this site is important.
Years of Data: The approximate years on which the average/maximum numbers are based.
Status: The season for which this site is important for this particular species.
Population: The best available estimate for the average and/or maximum number of individuals (or pairs) using the site during the season for which it is.
Criteria: Each species or group in the table corresponds to one of the criteria listed above.

12/29/07