Landbirds

Overview

Landbirds are a conspicuous component of many ecosystems and they are a popular and highly valued resource among park visitors. Because birds are sensitive to habitat change, studying them helps us track habitat conditions. Relative to other vertebrates, landbirds are also highly detectable and can be easily surveyed.

Bird monitoring data is useful for ascertaining the overall natural condition of Chihuahuan Desert Network parks, and can provide insights into the potential consequences of stressors and current and proposed management actions.

What We Monitor

• Occupancy: presence/absence with distribution
• Species richness and community composition
• Annual density of the most common species

Where We Monitor

• Amistad National Recreation Area
• Big Bend National Park
• Carlsbad Caverns National Park
• Fort Davis National Historic Site
• Guadalupe Mountains National Park
• White Sands National Park

Publications

Read more about our landbirds work in the monitoring reports (detailed results of our work), protocol (monitoring procedures), and web articles (summaries of our work). Bird checklists by park are listed here as well.