Breeding Bird Surveys

Gran Quivira Survey on May 26, 2020

Introduction: This is a two-mile loop transect with eleven points, at each of which birds are counted for ten minutes. The transect begins just north of the parking lot, continues east in Torrance County for about a mile and then, after dropping into Socorro County, goes west and ends south of the ruins. Each point is separated from any neighboring point by at least .2 mile. The table below shows which birds were seen or heard at each of the eleven points.

Summary: Gran Quivira (6,500 feet) is a dry, mesa-top site, dominated by juniper woodland and patches of yucca and grasses (mainly blue gramma & bluestem). Four-wing saltbush grows in the disturbed areas near the ruins. The recorded High on Survey Day at GQ was 84° F and the Low 47° F; mostly sunny skies and a moderate breeze complete the meteorological picture. The survey was begun at 7:30 AM and completed by 11:00 AM. The relatively low bird numbers may, in part, be attributable to the drought. The species composition and their relative abundance, however, conform with expectations for this habitat. Chipping Sparrows may have been slightly undercounted since they did not start singing until near the completion of the survey. The only unexpected bird was the Blue Grosbeak, who, although singing, may yet move on to more hospitable sites like Quarai and Abó, where it is a regular breeder. Canyon Towhees provided the only tangible evidence of breeding when two adults fed two nearly full-grown fledglings. Most welcome was a singing Gray Flycatcher (a PIF Priority Species); although not unexpected, it generally occurs a little higher up, where the woodland is complemented by pinyon and even some ponderosa. By far the most prolific and tireless singer was the Bewick’s Wren, a fact, no doubt, that contributed to making it the most common species on the transect.

Birds observed or heard during a breeding bird survey at Gran Quivira.

SPECIES	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Total

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