RFW Bird-watching Resources

About this Web-Tool

The Taos Land Trust has partnered with the Cornell Lab or Ornithology to carry out habitat restoration on the Rio Fernando in Taos. Part of that project is the monitoring of bird life in the area and the development of the capacity to carry out that monitoring.

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has created a suite of Bird-watching Tools to help individuals become adept at identifying birds and at the same time, contribute to our knowledge of local bird status through the principal tool: eBird.

The Taos Land Trust effort includes four public workshops (Online due to Covid) in January-February 2021 and field training sessions to follow in the Spring (or when Covid allows). This Web-Tool (RFW Bird-watching Resources) was created to facilitate the workshops and provide an introduction to bird-watching. The use of eBird and the Cornell Lab's other tools is a key element of these trainings.

Numerous Taos area birders have been involved in this project. Some have led birdwalks, some served on an advisory committee and others have been important contributors to the knowledge of the local status of bird life via their extensive submissions of eBird reports. Meg Peterson, Steve Knox and Robert Templeton were involved at the outset. More recently Tom Jackman, John Lay, Bob Friedrichs, Bob D'Antonio, Steve Knox and Jill Wussow have joined in an effort to formulate a birdlist for the Rio Fernando Wetlands corridor as well as contributing many of their own bird photos. There is room for more local birders to become involved. Contact the Land Trust or use the email below.

If you have questions or comments, please contact Robert Templeton at rt@rioembudobirds.org.

For questions about using materials from this website, see "Terms of Use" below.

About the Author:

Robert Templeton has been a bird-watcher for 25 years. He holds degrees in Music and Electronics and is a retired school teacher. He has led bird walks in N. New Mexico for twenty years. Since 2006, he has worked as a volunteer writer and teacher at the Veracruz River of Raptors in Veracruz, Mexico.

Terms of Use:

All of the instructional material in RFW Bird-watching Tools belongs to RioEmbudoBirds.org. All rights are reserved. It may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the author, Robert Templeton. He can be contacted at the email address above.

Most Photos on the site were created by local birders. Those not credited are by Robert Templeton. All rights are reserved. They may not be reproduced or used in any manner without the express written permission of the photographer. Requests for usage should be directed to the email given above.

All products derived from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, including eBird Data, are protected by their own copyrights and licensing. All usage here conforms to their protocols. Requests for usage of those materials should be directed to the Cornell Lab.

All Audio Recordings from the library of Xeno-Canto.org are used under a variety of licenses which are explained on their website. Any re-use of those materials must meet their licensing arrangements.

All images from OneZoom.org conform to their usage guidelines. Al the images involved were created using only those materials intended for use in the Public Domain.

Photos credited to various USFWS employees are in the Public Domain.

References:

Dawkins, Richard, Wong, Yan. The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution. (Great Britain: Mariner Books, 2016)

Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) (http://www.itis.gov).

Kerlinger, Paul. Flight Strategies of Migrating Hawks (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1989)

Kerlinger, Paul. How Birds Migrate (USA: Stackpole Books, 1985)

La Sorte, F., Fink, D., Hochachka, W., & Kelling, S. (2016). Convergence of broad-scale migration strategies in terrestrial birds. Proceedings: Biological Sciences, 283(1823), 1-9. Retrieved January 23, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/24762473

Martinez, Euardo Leyva, Ernesto Ruelas Inzunza, Octavio Cruz Carretero, James L. Barr, Elisa Peresbarbosa Rojas, Irving Chavez Dominguez, Gustavo Ramon Lara, Rafael Rodriguez Mesa, Alexaldo Garcia Miranda and Norma Ferriz Dominguez. (2008) Dynamics of Passerine Migration in Veracruz, Mexico. Proceedings of the Fourth International Partners in Flight Conference: Tundra to Tropics: 62-70

Nilsson, Cecilia, et al. “Differences in Speed and Duration of Bird Migration between Spring and Autumn.” The American Naturalist, vol. 181, no. 6, 2013, pp. 837–845. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/670335. Accessed 23 Jan. 2021.

Rappole, John H., Ramos, Mario A. (1994) "Factors affecting migratory bird routes over the Gulf of Mexico." Bird Conservation International: 4:251-262

Shubin, Neil. Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body (USA: Vintage, 2009)

Tudge, Colin. The Bird (New York: Three Rivers Press, 2008)