COMMUNITY SCIENCE
Birding with a Purpose
Do you keep lists of birds you observe? Do you like sharing your sightings? Do you wish you could do something to help conserve birds and their habitats? Birders like you are helping in many ways through community science (or citizen science), a way to contribute data for scientists studying bird populations.
Christmas Bird Counts
For over a century the Christmas Bird Count tradition has been a popular way to meet other birders and help with Audubon’s longest-running community science program. All CBC count results are carefully vetted and added to the growing database of bird distribution data, but observers of all experience levels are welcome. Christmas Bird Counts take place every winter from December 14 through January 5. Each CBC covers a circular area 15 miles in diameter and runs for one day. There are over a dozen CBCs in our Chapter’s extent!
See a map of CBC locations
See a spreadsheet of CBC dates in New Mexico
For more information, see National Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count page.
Reporting Rare Birds
Like all states, New Mexico has a Bird Records Committee that compiles, validates, and publishes sightings of unusual birds. This process is managed by the New Mexico Ornithological Society, which also holds conferences, field trips, and publishes NMOS Field Notes quarterly. Many birders also use online tools such as eBird or iNaturalist; the enormous popularity of these databases gives them a richness and currency that is second to none, though they do not completely replace the traditional NMOS reports which have a much longer history. All rare bird reports should have detailed descriptions and photographs and/or sound recordings whenever possible.
Climate Watch
In 2016 the National Audubon Society began a new program to monitor the effects of a changing climate on certain North American bird populations. Read more to find out how to help as a Climate Watch Observer…