North America’s three rosy-finch species – Black, Brown-capped, and Gray-crowned – nest along talus slopes and snowfields up to 14,000 feet, among the highest altitudes for any birds in North America. These uncommon birds forage for insects and seeds on bare soil amid sparse tundra vegetation, traveling in small flocks that, because they seldom encounter humans, can be surprisingly tame. Due to the inaccessibility of their habitat, however, many of the surveys traditionally used to assess trends in rosy-finch populations miss them almost completely. In winter, these birds descend to lower elevations, but their nomadic habits still make it hard to estimate their numbers.

Now, the threat of climate change is spurring new urgency throughout the Southwest to learn more about the health of rosy-finch populations, and predict what could become of them as the snowy reaches where they live warm up.

In New Mexico, all three species can be found in winter at Sandia Crest, near Albuquerque, where they are banded from November through March each year as part of the Rosy-Finch Project, run by Rio Grande Bird Research. In Utah, the Sageland Collaborative also fits birds with leg bands containing microchips that can be “read” by special high-tech feeders hosted by ski resorts, allowing researchers to follow the movements of individual birds over time and estimate their lifespans. (So far, some tagged birds have continued to reappear for three years.)

Meanwhile, the Rosy-Finch Working Group, formalized in 2021 and including representatives from state agencies, nonprofits and universities throughout rosy-finches’ range, seeks to develop improved, standardized survey methods to accurately monitor rosy-finch populations. One study conducted by Colorado Parks and Wildlife and finalized this year found the state has an estimated 115,000 to 150,000 Brown-capped Rosy-Finches – a surprisingly healthy population.

Matt DeSaix, a Ph.D. student with Colorado State University’s Bird Genoscape Project, headed up a recent genetic analysis of Brown-capped Rosy-Finches, with an eye to both the species’ current genetic health and what the future might hold. He and his colleagues sequenced genes from feather and blood samples collected from birds at 11 sites spanning the species’ breeding range. They found no concerning lack of genetic diversity, nor any evidence of inbreeding at any of their sites, supporting the conclusion that the population is robust.

DeSaix’s project combined two methods of forecasting what might happen to rosy-finches in a warming world. His analysis suggests that good rosy-finch habitat will contract and that some amount of natural selection will have to take place for the birds to continue to flourish in the places they currently live. But he cautions that we still don’t know enough about these birds and how they use their habitats to say for sure what will happen.

The Rosy-Finch Working Group is already striving to identify potential ways to help buffer rosy-finches against the worst effects of climate change. Possibilities the group hopes to explore include improving habitat in the birds’ lower-elevation winter ranges by promoting native plants and fighting invasive weeds, and physically removing trees that may encroach upslope into rosy-finches’ winter foraging habitat as temperatures warm.

American Bird Conservancy

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The winter 2024 season of Climate Watch runs from January 15 through February 15. Birders throughout north-central New Mexico are needed to participate in this Audubon community-science effort. We already have observers in 12 areas around Cerrillos, Pecos, Santa Fe and White Rock, but need many more for easily accessible birdy areas including Galisteo, Lamy, Los Alamos, Española, Las Vegas, Taos and all parts north to Colorado.  Target species for Climate Watch include bluebirds, nuthatches, goldfinches, and Spotted Towhees. Observers will need to record their sightings from 12 stations in a single day in suitable habitat for one of the target species. Can you take a day to make this contribution to a large, long-term dataset? If you are already participating in Climate Watch, would you be willing to have a new observer join you? For more information, contact Albert Shultz at shultzaw@gmail.com or 505-699-1521.

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In a victory for Lesser Prairie-Chickens, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently announced it will protect this iconic grassland bird under the Endangered Species Act. Two populations of the Lesser Prairie-Chicken will be protected by the decision: a Texas and New Mexico population that is being listed as endangered, and a separate northern population in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Colorado that is being listed as threatened.

“This is terrific news for these fascinating birds and the overlooked and much-exploited prairies where they live,” said Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity. “We wish that the USFWS hadn’t delayed this protection for 27 years, because quicker action would have meant a lot more Lesser Prairie-Chickens alive in a lot more places today. We’ll watch closely to ensure there are strong protections for the places where these birds live.”

The Lesser Prairie-Chicken is emblematic of the storied grasslands of the Southwest. It’s a species of prairie grouse commonly recognized for its colorful spring mating display and stout build. While historical estimates suggest Lesser Prairie-Chickens may have once numbered in the millions, its habitat has diminished across its historical range by about 90 percent, the result of the degradation and fragmentation of the southern Great Plains.

Aerial survey results from 2012 through 2022 estimate a five-year average Lesser Prairie-Chicken population of 32,210 across a five-state region. Although landowners and the oil and gas industry say they have had success with voluntary conservation measures to protect habitat and boost the bird’s numbers, the southern area in New Mexico and Texas where it resides is considered less resilient, and there may be as few as 5,000 birds remaining there. Conversion to crops, cattle grazing, the raising of powerlines and telephone poles, oil and gas drilling, and the incursion of woodlands – as well as drought and high temperatures linked to global warming – all harm the bird.

— Center for Biological Diversity

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