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April Birding Forecast

Tue, 31 Mar 2026 19:42:42 GMT

By Alex Harper

In March, Turkey Vultures, swallows, Ash-throated Flycatchers, Lucy’s Warblers, Hooded Oriole, and Yellow- headed Blackbirds sneak into southern Nevada. These species are among the most obvious returners to the region as springtime ushers in breeding and migratory activities for hundreds of birds. A common thread among these birds is that they do not come from a long way away from our region; many of them may have spent the winter in Arizona, southern California, or northern Mexico.

The increasing pulses of birds moving into southern Nevada throughout April are also driven by the instinct to breed. As the northern hemisphere warms up and trees begin to produce buds and flowers, birds come in to feed on resources that are not available during the winter and find cover in trees that were previously bare.

The movement of migratory birds in the spring is largely dependent on weather. Most species of songbirds migrate during the nighttime and fly on clear nights with favorable winds. In the spring, birds are in a rush to reach their breeding grounds to claim the best territory for nest rearing. Driven by hormones that are largely signaled by increasing daylight, they are compelled to push northward. To do this, they will need to store their energy in their wintering grounds and not take unnecessary risks to have the best chances for survival. For this reason, birds often fly with favorable tailwinds as opposed to against energy-depleting headwinds.

Songbirds employ a few strategies to help them migrate and navigate at night. It is believed that songbirds rely heavily on stars and other features of the night sky to help them navigate, recalling the skills early human navigators. Perhaps just as remarkably, songbirds have an ability to orient using magnetic fields. In the eyes of many birds is magnetite. Magnetite moves across the eyes depending on their orientation to the north and south poles, suggesting that they can visualize and perceive the magnetic fields suspended over our poles. You can think of this as having compasses in the eyes, and songbirds that migrate have higher concentrations of magnetite in their eyes than nonmigratory birds. Along with these adaptations, birds utilize and memorize landscape features such as mountain ranges, valleys and river systems. They employ all these innate and learned tools for navigation in conjunction to move about the world, and perhaps have other tools that we are unaware of.

Using these remarkable adaptations and navigational skills are millions of colorful songbirds that are rearing to migrate into and across Nevada in the months of April and May. To best see these species, one may not need to wander far outside of the city; many local parks and even backyards can attract a diversity of migratory species. Some of the most popular locations for viewing vireos, flycatchers, thrushes, warblers, sparrows, orioles, buntings and grosbeaks are Corn Creek Field Station, Floyd Lamb Park, Craig Ranch Park, Sunset Park, Clark County Wetlands, and the Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve. These parks are easily visible to birds flying towards or over the city, have available water, and offer a variety of options for resting and refueling. Palo Verdes and mesquite trees begin to bloom in April, and because they are native to the southwestern deserts, they’re familiar to insects and the birds that eat them. A grove of Palo Verde trees in a small park can be a gift that continues to give all spring. Fruiting mulberry trees can also be magnets for some birds. The Winchester-Dondero Cultural Center, Floyd Lamb Park, the vicinity of the Safekey building at Sunset Park, and the orchard at Corn Creek Field Station all have fruit-producing mulberries, and they can be extremely rewarding places to sit and watch colorful migratory birds.

There are a few things to remember when looking for migratory birds this spring. Firstly, well fed and healthy birds often begin migrating shortly after sundown and can fly for well over fourteen hours after launching. That means that even though birding activity is overall higher around dawn, newly arriving birds may not touch down into a place that you are birding until late morning. Secondly, pay attention to the weather in the immediate area and in locations to the south where most birds are coming from. Birds move when there is a gentle tail wind coming from the south and clear skies. Do not expect to find many newly arriving migratory birds during a period of northerly winds. You can learn how to better predict these movements by following an online migration tool called BirdCast. BirdCast uses global weather tracking data to estimate bird traffic at night. By following weather patterns and, you can better predict the presence or absence of migratory birds. Predicting migration is difficult, so expect a steep learning-curve and deep satisfaction in the learning process.

It's not just songbirds that move into the region during April. Waterfowl mostly move out of wetlands as the month moves along, but shorebirds start to move in. Avocets, stilts, plovers and sandpipers may begin congregating at the Las Vegas Wash from Sunrise Manor down to Pabco Weir, the Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve, and along reservoirs. Scan shallow shoreline
edges and mudflats and you may well run into shorebirds. The end of April and early May is a peak period for shorebird migration in the Mojave region.

In our own neighborhoods and communities, residential birds continue along in breeding activities. You will hear familiar backyard birds maintaining territories though chasing off competition, singing, displaying, and courting. By the end of the month, you may hear nestlings begging from nests or following parents around for food. Northern Flickers, kinglets, Yellow-rumped Warblers, White-crowned Sparrows, and Brewer’s Blackbirds vacate our neighborhoods and parks. Meanwhile in the higher elevations surrounding Las Vegas, breeding activity is more staggered. Typically, mountainous birds begin breeding a few weeks later than birds in the low valleys.

As you get out and wander in April, notice that seed-eating sparrows move through before most insectivores like flycatchers and warblers. Pay attention to how diet and the scarcity of resources are connected to temperature or the life histories of species of birds. For migratory birds there is a sweet spot that must be met: they want to be early enough to claim the best territory, but not so early that they meet challenging weather.

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March Birding Forecast

Fri, 27 Feb 2026 16:27:28 GMT

By Alex Harper

On March 1, Southern Nevada receives about eleven hours and twenty-six minutes of direct daylight. This is about an hour more of total daylight compared to that on February 1, and about an hour and forty minutes more than on January 1. On the last day of March, we receive about twelve and a half hours of daylight. The increased daylight in the northern hemisphere brings increased warmth. The additional light and heat give plants energy to photosynthesize and kickstarts the processes of putting out new leaves and flowers. Insect activity follows and ramps up.

In sync with the progressions of the seasons are billions of waterfowl, shorebirds, raptors, hummingbirds, and songbirds. Across their wintering grounds in South and Central America, Mexico, or the Sonoran Desert, these birds are fattening up and saving their energy for long, challenging journeys. Like the plants and insects, these birds register the increasing sunlight; cascades of hormonal changes prepare them for a seasonal movement that we call migration. Of these billions of birds, many millions will pass though Nevada’s skies this spring.

March offers a preview for what’s in store for April and May. Although March may have days that feel like spring, there are days that potentially can be reclaimed by winter weather. This means that for many songbirds, it may be too energetically taxing and risky flying northwards into our region in March. It could even be fatal if an intense cold snap occurred. A few species of land birds do manage to successfully navigate the temperamental month of March, seemingly adapted to cope with the unpredictability.

These birds include Yellow-headed Blackbirds and cowbirds, which are sometimes coming from marshes and agricultural areas of Southern Arizona or northern Mexico, are some of the first to arrive. You may find or hear these birds at familiar parks, especially any with stands of wetland vegetation or large lawns. Their relative, Hooded Orioles, come back by late March, preferring to be closer to trees such as palms.

Along the Colorado River or Clark County Wetlands Park, the Lucy’s Warbler begins to trickle in. These small, gray warblers seek out stands of mesquite tress, joining the assemblage of overwintering Yellow-rumped and Orange-crowned Warblers. The Lucy’s Warbler winters as close by as the Mexican state of Sinaloa. This means that the distance that they needed to traverse to get to Southern Nevada is far less than that of comparatively sized warblers wintering deeper into Mexico and helps explain why we see these warblers arrive well before the others. It’s one of the only warblers to breed in tree cavities, and they prefer mesquite groves and wooded wetlands for nesting habitat.

Other birds on their way through Nevada in March are swallows. These strong flyers are diurnal migrants, and unlike most other songbirds, they have the advantage of being able to hunt flying insects as they migrate northbound. Tree, Violet-green, Barn, Northern Rough-winged and Cliff Swallows may be seen cruising low and purposefully northward through open desert or stopping to feed and drink anywhere with surface water. Some of the Northern Rough-winged or Cliff Swallows may end their spring journey in Las Vegas or Henderson, as some create nests under bridges at locations like Arroyo-Grande Park or Pittman Wash.

Other birds are departing our region. The wintering duck numbers begin to thin out at the popular birding sites in the region. Geese and ducks are well-adapted to finding food in winter but often driven by accessible bodies of water for roosting or foraging. With lakes and ponds thawing out to the north, they will largely begin departing the region for the wetlands of the Great Basin and prairies of the west, the spruce forests of Canada or Alaska, or even the tundra of the Arctic.

Close to your home, you may be observing flurries of breeding behavior from resident doves, hummingbirds, and songbirds. These birds that often live their entire lifecycles in the same region breed well before some birds have begun migratory journeys that can be hundreds or thousands of miles in duration. These are the Anna’s Hummingbirds, Verdins, and Northern Mockingbirds. It’s possible that by late March you may see robins or local birds feeding young in nests.

Like every year, month, or week, no day is the same when observing birds. Each species has its own unique life history. As you get outside in March, you’ll be able to observe behavior changes amongst species and individuals. Tune in to these subtle changes and watch for the trickle of incoming spring migrants. And come April, the dam breaks, and the flycatchers, vireos, warblers, orioles and tanagers begin to pour in.

Birding as a Pathway to Healing for University Trauma Survivors

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 18:31:49 GMT

By Skyler Peterson

Universities should embrace mindful birding as a form of ecotherapy to support students living with PTSD.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an increasingly urgent mental health issue for college students. Traumatic events such as campus shootings, sexual assault, racial violence, and natural disasters leave lasting effects. A recent study found that the prevalence of PTSD in college students rose from 3.4% in 2017–2018 to 7.5% in 2021–2022 (Zhai, 2024). This increase demands attention from universities and the broader public.

How PTSD Affects Students

PTSD impacts nearly every aspect of a student’s life. It impairs academic performance and increases the risk of substance use. Many students withdraw socially, unable to engage fully with their peers or professors. For those who experience trauma on campus, the sense of safety and belonging, essential to learning, may be shattered. The place they must go to succeed becomes filled with constant triggers they must struggle to navigate.

Mindful Birding as Ecotherapy

One promising tool for promoting healing is ecotherapy: structured, nature-based activities that restore mental and physical well-being. A growing practice within this field is mindful birding, also known as “slow birding.” It combines birdwatching with mindfulness to help individuals ground themselves in the present moment and connect with the natural world around them. The guiding principles are simple but powerful: awareness of being in the moment with birds, intention to turn attention to birds and nature for self-care, being without judgment to allow an experience to be what it will, and an exploration of curiosity in openness to experiencing awe. According to the Mindful Birding Network, this intentional focus on nature can foster resilience, reduce stress, and nurture a sense of belonging in the world.

Connecting Birding to PTSD

For students coping with PTSD, mindful birding offers a grounding practice that is both accessible and flexible. It requires no prior experience and can be done anywhere, even while walking to class. A student feeling dysregulated might pause to listen to birdsong, notice the flight of a sparrow, or observe the seasonal rhythms on campus. These moments provide a break from intrusive thoughts, reconnecting the student with body, mind, and surroundings. This connection to nature can create a sense of safety and predictability, something many survivors of trauma desperately need. The cyclical patterns of bird life remind us that the world continues in order, even amid personal chaos.

Measurable Examples

During the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro found that combining mindfulness with time in nature significantly reduced anxiety symptoms in students (Vitagliano, 2023). This serves as a vital lesson for higher education, where counseling centers are stretched beyond capacity. While campus green spaces are therapeutic as they boost students' physical, mental, and social well-being, not all campuses can afford to expand green infrastructure. Birding, however, is free. It can be practiced anywhere, costs nothing, and helps students connect with nature in a restorative way. Programs like Audubon on Campus demonstrate that mindful birding is not only feasible but also practical and appealing for budget-conscious administrators.

A qualitative analysis on the impact of ecotherapeutic mental health interventions on stress reduction and mental well-being was conducted. All ecotherapeutic methods (nature-based mindfulness, forest therapy, and therapeutic ornithology) were found to improve general well-being at various levels and dimensions. These levels include sensory, emotional, cognitive, language, and emotional state. Participants of the study reported increased feelings of relaxation, release of tension, increased awareness, and aroused curiosity. (Simonienko, 2023)

How Universities Can Act

Universities are well-positioned to make mindful birding more accessible. Audubon on Campus, the collegiate branch of the National Audubon Society, already hosts birding events throughout the academic year. By partnering with campus mental health services and victim advocate programs, these initiatives could expand into intentional ecotherapy opportunities for students living with PTSD. Providing mindful birding workshops, guided walks, or even simple campus maps highlighting bird-rich areas could help students build grounding practices into their daily lives. The cost is minimal, but the potential benefits of greater resilience, stronger community connections, and improved well-being are immense.

A Call to Listen

As the prevalence of PTSD rises, universities must look beyond conventional therapies and consider innovative, accessible options for healing. Mindful birding is not a cure, but it is a powerful tool to help survivors reconnect with themselves, their peers, and their campuses. Birds are everywhere, singing and flying, reminding us of the continuity and resilience of life. By encouraging students to listen, notice, and engage, universities can give trauma survivors not just a coping strategy, but a pathway back to healing.

Zhai, Yusen, and Xue Du. “Trends in Diagnosed Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Acute Stress Disorder in US College Students, 2017-2022.” JAMA Network Open 7, no. 5 (May 30, 2024). https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.13874.

“Mindful Birding.” The Mindful Birding Network. Accessed August 29, 2025. https://www.themindfincludeulbirdingnetwork.com/mindful-birding .

Vitagliano, L. A., Wester, K. L., Jones, C. T., Wyrick, D. L., & Vermeesch, A. L. (2023). Group Nature-Based Mindfulness Interventions: Nature-Based Mindfulness Training for College Students with Anxiety. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(2), 1451. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph2002145

Simonienko, Katarzyna, Sławomir Murawiec, and Piotr Tryjanowski. “The Impact of Ecotherapeutic Mental Health Interventions (Forest Therapy, Therapeutic Ornithology, and Nature-Based Mindfulness) on Stress Reduction and Mental Wellbeing: A Qualitative Analysis.” Psychiatria i Psychologia Kliniczna 23, no. 4 (December 29, 2023): 324–31. https://doi.org/10.15557/pipk.2023.0040.

Skyler Peterson is now the AmeriCorps Service Member for Red Rock Audubon. This story was written prior to her employment with the organization.

February Birding Forecast

Sun, 25 Jan 2026 01:43:59 GMT

By Alex Harper

Neither in the depths of winter anymore and too early for the rush of spring, February is a month that may feel more stagnant than January or March. The increasing daylight triggers hormone production that may prepare some birds for breeding or migratory behavior. The behavior changes in birds may be obvious when observing some species, but not observable in others. There are indeed some birds on the move in February, and they are the harbingers of an incoming spring.

For our local breeding birds, many will be engaging in territorial behavior or “tuning up” their songs. Residential birds at low elevations, such as in the Las Vegas area, will be most obvious. You’ll notice doves, hummingbirds and mockingbirds chasing each other around or displaying. You may even catch hummingbirds in the act of collecting nest materials; spider webs are amongst some of their favorite materials. The songs of House Finches may be heard on almost every city block in town.

At local parks such as Sunset Park, the Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve, and Pittman Wash, you may hear the harsh song of the Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, a rambling Crissal Thrasher, or the hurried and stuttering song of the Abert’s Towhee. Since these resident birds are nonmigratory and are already in the area that they will attempt to breed, they can begin breeding activities now. For many of the migratory species, they are on a different schedule.

At our parks with water and our reservoirs, we could still see influxes of winter-driven waterfowl, especially in diving ducks like goldeneyes, Red-breasted and Common Mergansers. Cooler temperatures to the north or farther inland can freeze ponds over, which directly affects the ability for waterfowl to forage for food. Diving waterfowl are impacted by any freezes, and they’ll move around throughout February when necessary.

February is another great gull-watching month. Virtually any species can show up at Lake Mead during February.

Some migratory birds are on the way from south of the border. Fast-flying swallows are amongst the first to arrive, and they’ll trickle into wetlands such as Clark County Wetlands Park and the Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve. Migratory Northern Rough-winged Swallows will join the small winter flocks at the bird preserve, as will Tree Swallows, followed by a few Barns and Violet-greens. Visit the Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve towards the end of February, and you’ll notice the slow accumulation of swallows.

Once the trees begin to produce new leaves again, insect and bird activity will escalate. From March to May, surges of spring-related activities such as singing, nest-building, and migration will be in full motion.

January Bird Forecast

Sat, 27 Dec 2025 19:17:37 GMT

by Alex Harper

Cold, dense air blankets the valleys and basins of the lowlands, and snow may cover mountain slopes. The sun arcs low across the horizon, and the days are especially short. Just about all the deciduous trees have lost their leaves after a few windy December days. The loss of leaf cover forces some songbirds to forage lower to the ground or move around locally to find fuel and cover. Since insects may only be active during the warmest parts of the warmest of January days, you may notice Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Yellow-rumped Warblers using ingenuity to find dormant or dead insects and spiders. In lots and natural areas, White-crowned Sparrows and House Finches feed on seeding quailbush.

Many January days can be bone-chilling, but on calm and warmer days, signs of breeding activities will be noticeable in urban areas. You may hear the loud popping sounds of displaying Anna’s Hummingbirds, see Eurasian Collared-Doves “paragliding” between powerlines, or notice robins and mockingbirds tuning up their songs. This is in response to the gradual increase in daylight following the winter solstice in December; birds are so attuned to light that some resident species may get a jumpstart on establishing territories and attracting mates.

Wetlands, parks with water, and golf courses can host high species of duck diversity. Along the Las Vegas Wash from the upper wash to Lake Las Vegas, open water attracts teals, Mallards, American Wigeons, pintails, Gadwalls, Ring-necked Ducks, and Lesser Scaups. Wigeons and Gadwalls are especially drawn to weirs, where they feed on algae growing on rocks. Northern Shovelers may be absent along the Wash, preferring the calmer waters of the Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve.

American Wigeons, Ring-necked Ducks, and Redheads all may be found at city park ponds and lakes, where they have learned to take handouts. Geese move in between nighttime roosts around water for open grassy areas during the day. Geese are grazers, and you may see small groups of Snow Geese and the odd Cackling, Greater White-fronted, or Ross’s Geese among Canada Geese on soccer fields or golf course lawns.

Lake Mead can attract grebes, loons, and diving ducks. Check the areas where the Las Vegas Wash meets the lake, which is currently near Government Wash and 33-Hole. Large enough fish for grebes, loons, and cormorants are attracted to this outwash, and it can be an excellent place to look for these and other waterbirds that eat medium-sized to large fish.

Lake Mead is also attractive to gulls in January and late winter. Gulls are dynamic, intelligent, can be difficult to identify to a species-level, and are prone to wandering. For these reasons and more, birders often find looking for gulls an exciting challenge. Only a few species are expected on any given visit to Lake Mead, but the reservoir lures in just about any North American gull species. Gulls go where they are fed, and they roost in safe areas close to consistent feeding areas. 33-Hole, Government Wash, Boulder Beach and Hemenway Harbor are all tried-and-true locations to look for gulls. Scan through flocks of ubiquitous Ring-billed, California, and occasional Herring for Lesser Black-backed and Iceland Gulls. Eventually, you may see something completely unexpected.

Overall, January can be used to see waterfowl move and court one another, as well as life cycles of wintering and resident birds. For some bird species, they are weeks or months away from migrating to their breeding grounds, which in some cases may be in Canada or Alaska. For our year-round neighborhood birds, they may be transitioning out of their winter behavior of wandering for food and beginning to set up territory. By February, we will welcome the vanguards of returning swallows.

December Birding Forecast

Mon, 01 Dec 2025 18:59:14 GMT

In December, it is fair to say that winter has arrived. And throughout November, diehard birders and backyard birders alike turn over the stones to see or hear what types of wintering birds will be with us for the next few months. At parks, in canyons, and neighborhoods, our songbirds have mostly settled into their wintering areas. Mixed flocks of Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Yellow-rumped, and Orange-crowned Warblers rove through a variety of habitats. White-crowned Sparrows move confidently in large groups, aggregating where food is plentiful. You may see them around seeding quailbush in much of the valley. Look for their cousins, White-throated and Golden-crowned Sparrows, which occasionally join groups of White crowned Sparrows. For the most part, songbirds tend to stay put once they find a wintering area. They are no longer migrating long distances, but they will move around locally and wander for food supplies.

Some songbirds are a little less predictable. Red-breasted Nuthatches and a few finch species are such examples. They move around more freely throughout the winter, admonishing the idea that we usually have of songbirds: that they are supposed to move roughly north or south with the spring or fall. For birds like siskins, Evening Grosbeaks, and Red Crossbills, this may not be the case. These species are more nomadic, searching valleys and mountainous areas for their favored seed crops. Finches call frequently while in flight, so familiarizing yourself with their calls will help you detect them as they flyover. Detecting finches as “fly overs” is a common occurrence with this globally successful family of birds.

At our wetlands and lakes, waterbirds move about in search of optimal feeding areas. Many of our geese and ducks continue to come and go as the winter season progresses. These birds are often hunted or disturbed in many wintering areas, so over time they naturally end up at wetlands where hunting is not permitted. It is in part for this reason that you will run into slightly more or different birds at places like Clark County Wetlands in January than you will in December.

For those looking to get out of the city for a day of birding, consider visiting agricultural areas around Moapa Valley or south of Laughlin. Visiting these habitats during the winter can be highly rewarding. Agricultural areas attract heaps of bluebirds, pipits, blackbirds and sparrows. And with those, predators often follow; the Moapa Valley, Overton, and Warm Springs areas can be excellent places to see wintering falcons, Red-tailed Hawks and harriers. You may even spot a Ferruginous Hawk, the largest hawk in on the North American Continent. Another good reason to bird these areas is that few people often do. If you are the type of person that loves to sleuth around for interesting birds, you may well stumble across an unusual bird that no one else has detected yet. They are out there, and uncommon and rare birds will be found by local birders.

Birding at Primm: An Interstate Oasis for MIgrants and Birders

Fri, 31 Oct 2025 14:33:47 GMT

When the days grow shorter, the nights cooler, and winds begin to turn south, many birds begin to change their behaviors. The breeding season has come and gone. Some species spend their lives close to home, perfectly adapted to their habitats through all seasons. But for most North American songbirds, migration is a necessary annual act of survival in the seasonal pursuit of food, water, and safety. These include flycatchers, vireos, thrushes, sparrows, blackbirds, warblers, tanagers, grosbeaks, and buntings. As insects vanish and leaves fall across northern regions, many birds push south, traversing mountains, valleys, and deserts in search of suitable habitat. Many of these birds are intending to make their way to the warmer climates of Mexico and more tropical areas for the colder months.

In the arid expanse of the Mojave Desert, safe stopover sites are few and far between. Migrants that are not desert specialists often must locate oases, which are small pockets of water, shade, and food, to rest and refuel. Some are natural: mountain springs and creeks, valley wetlands, or canyons. Others are entirely human-made: parks, cemeteries, and towns where irrigation and ornamental trees create relatively lush islands in a sea of desert. These green patches, although artificial, can mean the difference between exhaustion and success for a traveling flycatcher or warbler.

One such refuge sits right on the California-Nevada border along I-15. This is the “town” of Primm. To most travelers between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, it’s another brief stop for gas and food. A defunct roller coaster and closed shopping outlet give the impression that Primm’s prime is behind us. But for birders, it’s a birding hotspot. Primm’s irrigated lawns and runoff from water sources draw birds from miles around. Its small size makes it easy to cover, and its isolation makes it stand out. It’s an island of green surrounded by dry lake beds and sparse vegetation.

Primm is a classic “migrant trap,” where the color green and promise of water concentrates birds in one small place. Though songbirds navigate with remarkable precision by reading the stars, reading the Earth’s magnetic fields, and using landmarks - they do sometimes go astray. Young or disoriented individuals may travel the right distance but in the wrong direction, bringing eastern or Great Plains birds into western deserts. For birders, these navigational errors are the source of exciting discoveries, especially in the Fall.

When one rare bird is found, more often follow. This is the “Patagonia Picnic Table Effect,” named after a famous site in Patagonia, Arizona, where a single unusual sighting decades ago triggered a rush of birders who went on to discover even more rarities. Primm functions much the same way: one exciting report draws others to look, and the increased attention yields more discoveries. The town’s lawns and patches of trees may not be appealing, but birders affectionately call it the “Primm Forest Preserve,” a tongue-in-cheek tribute made by biologists working in the region in the mid-2010s.

The Fall of 2025 was especially exciting, with Baltimore Oriole, multiple Painted Buntings, a Blackburnian Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler, and more showing up in a short amount of time. As birder and biologist Michael McCloy shared, “This oasis contains some of the only real trees and water for miles, acting as a magnet for any migrating songbirds in need of rest and refueling.” During his near-daily visits this September, he witnessed moments of pure wonder: “One day I turned around and there was a Lark Bunting and a Dickcissel at the same roadside puddle. Another day, a Marsh Wren perched twenty feet up in a tree. And when a Black-throated Blue Warbler showed up, it came within three feet of me. I wondered if it was going to land on my arm.”

For Clayton Peoples, who visits regularly from Reno, Primm has become a staple of southern Nevada birding. “It’s one of my go-to places,” he said. “I used to stay at Buffalo Bill’s just to be right there at sunrise.” Clayton recalls finding a Nelson’s Sparrow with Dave Anderson, a Dickcissel while searching for a Painted Bunting, and most recently a hatch-year female Black-throated Blue Warbler. Many of these birds are considered “ review list ” for Nevada. He shares updates through the WhatsApp groups and Facebook, helping others join in on sharing are bird sightings. For birders from across the state, Primm has become an unlikely meeting ground for the birding community.

On a population scale, migrant traps like Primm may seem insignificant. But for individual birds, these patches of green can mean survival - a brief chance to rest, feed, and rebuild strength before continuing south. Every visit is a gamble with the possibility of reward, especially in April-early June and August to late October when most songbirds are migrating. Whether you’re in Primm, Corn Creek, Indian Springs, or a patch of trees in your neighborhood park, have a look and be open to the idea of finding something you wouldn’t expect. You never know what might drop in.

November Birding Forecast

Thu, 30 Oct 2025 21:27:38 GMT

By Alex Harper

By November, most of the wintering songbirds have settled into their wintering territories for the winter months. In and around our neighborhoods and small parks, Northern Flickers, Ruby crowned Kinglets, Yellow-rumped Warblers and White-crowned Sparrows have become part of the urban and suburban winter makeup. Brewer’s Blackbirds arrive in force, joining grackles and hanging around parking lots and busy parks. Our Empidonax flycatchers, vireos, most species of wood-warblers, orioles, grosbeaks and tanagers have long-departed for the warmer Sonoran Desert, woodlands in Mexico, or tropical areas of Central and South America. We won’t begin seeing these birds again until March, April, and May.

At our wetlands and artificial ponds and lakes, waterfowl diversity and numbers increase through the month. Redheads, Ring-necked Ducks, Buffleheads, and dabbling ducks stream in from waterbodies from the north. One can observe this movement from the bank of Clark County Wetlands Park, where birds follow the Wash as they explore new foraging areas. Parks like Sunset Park and Craig Ranch Park can be great places to observe some of the ducks at close range. At Lake Mead, check 33-Hole for loons and wintering gulls, and Boulder Beach for Greater Scaup and unusual diving ducks like scoters. Scoters feed on mollusks and take advantage of the invasive Quagga Mussel population at some parts of the lake.

Geese also wander in the valley. Along with Canada Geese, search for Greater White-fronted Geese and Snow Geese at parks and athletic fields. Small numbers of Ross’s and Cackling Geese mingle at these sites with the larger geese. By the end of the month, it is not unusual for Tundra Swans to make brief visits to our watercourses.

At our more well-vegetated parks, keep an eye and ear out for other wintering species. Northern Harriers frequent the bird preserve and the Wash. Hermit Thrushes and Spotted Towhees can be found anywhere with enough understory, though are a bit too shy for most urban parks. Some cultivated plants such as California Fan Palms and Russian Olives begin to produce fruit, which can lure in flickers, robins, waxwings, starlings, mockingbirds and more. Keep an eye out in your neighborhood for such plants.

November is a great month for those looking for unusual and infrequent bird species. Corn Creek at Desert National Wildlife Refuge, Floyd Lamb, and any of our large parks can lure in species such as Eastern Phoebe, Pacific Wren, Varied Thrush, Gray Catbird, American Tree Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, Harris’s Sparrows, Golden-crowned Sparrow, and Lapland Longspur all could show up in the Las Vegas area this November. These are all hardy species that can overwinter in the region and endure the occasional freezes.

October Birding Forecast

Sat, 27 Sep 2025 22:46:38 GMT

By Alex Harper

October is a month of intense change for bird diversity in southern Nevada. The experience that one might have at the very beginning of the month is likely going to be very different from the end. Throughout the month, transiting birds arrive with gradually intensifying cold fronts coming from the north. These colder temperatures begin to suppress insect activity, forcing most insect-eating birds to move to lower latitudes where food is more consistent. Many of our vireos, thrushes, flycatchers, warblers and tanagers will spend their winters anywhere from Mexico to South America. In these locations, they are as equally at home as they are in North America, and there are enough insects and fruit-bearing trees to accommodate the diversity of residential birds and the snowbirds.

Like passing waves, each front helps to propel birds to the north into southern Nevada, while moving other birds out to more southerly areas. The assemblage – the totality of birds represented at one location during a snapshot in time – also take on an identity that marks a later stage of songbird migration. These are the more cold-tolerant species of birds that can find food and survive under colder conditions, and many of them signal the approach of winter. Sapsuckers, flickers, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Yellow-rumped Warblers and White-crowned Sparrows are some of these, and they will become more noticeable throughout southern Nevada’s popular birding sites. Migratory flocks of American Robins may join our resident robins, and Brewer’s Blackbirds begin to appear more and more in all the places we’d expect to see Great-tailed Grackles.

Some are passing through to areas farther south, while many others will establish wintering territories in parks and neighborhoods. There is still very little known about how birds establish themselves individually over the landscape in these ways, but this is happening for all of October in southern Nevada.

Sparrow diversity changes drastically during this phase of migration. Chipping and Brewer’s Sparrows continue to move out towards grassier areas such as Avi Kwa Ame National Monument, the Sonoran Desert and Mexico. Savannah Sparrows move into weedy areas and even ballfields in suburban parks. Lincoln’s quietly take over stands of invasive Phragmites or wetland edges. Dark-eyed Juncos prefer grassy parks with groves of trees. Look through amassing groups of boisterous White-crowned Sparrows for Golden-crowned and White throated Sparrows. Many sparrows will take advantage of the bounty of seeds that were produced during the closing growing season.

At wetlands, transient shorebirds have mostly moved in and out, and waterfowl begin to move in. Southern Nevada hosts about twenty-five species of geese and ducks. Many of them will be arriving from wetlands in the Great Plains, Great Basin, or beyond. Visit the bird preserve or Las Vegas Wash in the morning and watch the numbers of waterfowl moving in and out of the region to appreciate the volume of ducks that move through the Las Vegas Valley.

October is a great month for wildcard birding. During October, more irruptive species may be absent or present. Irruptive species are species of birds whose movements are dictated by resources that are less influenced by altitude and are more influenced by other factors. In the Western United States, Red-breasted Nuthatches and most finches tend to be the most irruptive, since their food sources are usually cone-bearing trees. Birds gravitate towards crops of successful trees and avoid areas with less success. This can be problematic if more trees in more regions begin to fail. Witnessing Red Crossbills, Evening Grosbeaks and other montane finches in the Las Vegas is possible in October. Finches are often moving between mountain ranges looking for good pine, fir or spruce crop and drop into lowland parks to drink water.

Other wildcards could be wayward eastern songbirds that are out of the range that we expect them in. Warblers are especially prone to showing up, and the classic areas to look for uncommon species are areas that have tall trees, some groundcover (the more, the better) and water. Some popular places to search for many migratory land birds include Corn Creek Field Station, Floyd Lamb Park, the Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve, Clark County Wetlands Park, and Craig Ranch Regional Park. The more you get out with the intention of noticing more, the more chances there are to notice the birds that stand out as different.

Get out on the days following cold fronts and observe the changes since the last one. There are insights to glean from those experiences, and they are all useful in your own endeavor to understand the movements of birds around you.

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September Birding Forecast

Thu, 28 Aug 2025 03:58:38 GMT

By Alex Harper

If there is a light at the end of the tunnel of the dog days of summer birding in the Mojave Desert, it begins sometime in September. The warmest and most uncomfortable days are mostly behind us, and the birds register this too. If you struggled to get outside in August, you’ll find the birding opportunities more motivating.

The movements that began in August are only more amplified in September. Shorebirds have been engaging in southbound movement for weeks now, congregating around reservoirs, wetlands, the Las Vegas Wash, and ephemerally flooded dry lakes. Avocets, curlews and Wilson’s Phalaropes pour in from the kettle ponds of the Great Plains or lakes of the Great Basin. Yellowlegs and Solitary Sandpipers transit on their way from the spruce bogs of Canada and Alaska, and dowitchers and Red-necked Phalaropes may be coming from open tundra of the northern edges of the North American continent. Adults are the first to arrive in late summer; first of year birds tend to arrive later, needing time to learn how to feed and fatten up on their own after being born earlier in the year.

Riparian areas and parks begin to invite and harbor more songbirds. These birds may be coming from breeding territories throughout the Western Lower 48. In the weeks that follow, we will see birds that are arriving from farther distances. This makes sense; songbirds that are departing from Alaska and Canada tend not to arrive before birds that started their autumn migration somewhere in northern Nevada, Idaho, or eastern Oregon, for example. It stands to reason that the Orange-crowned Warblers, some of the Yellow Warblers, Brewer’s Sparrows and Western Tanagers, and Black-headed Grosbeaks that we see in early September may not have come from too far away to get here. The first Wilson’s Warblers that we see are probably from neighboring states as opposed to ones coming from British Columbia or the Yukon.

Additionally, it is the insect-eating birds that we observe the most in September. Flycatchers, vireos, warblers and tanagers need to vacate out of the areas where insect activity can be quickly shut down by the first cold fronts. These birds make haste to destinations that support insect and invertebrate activity year-round, such as the Sonoran Desert, lowland Mexico, and tropical regions of Central America. Birds that can rely on seeds have more flexibility since their food-sources aren’t affected by temperature in the same ways. Sparrows may begin to appear more in October while finches may not begin to peak until November.

Interesting birds are often observed by the vigilant, and the vigilant are up early and at the “honey holes” at the right times. These sites include Cactus Springs, Corn Creek Field Station, Floyd Lamb at Tule Springs, Clark County Wetlands and Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve, but virtually any park can attract higher volumes of birds. Infrequently seen or rare birds are often at sites amongst the regularly occurring birds for the same reasons that the habitat is attractive-looking and may have “retentive qualities” such as water, reliable food sources, and safety from predators. Outside of the suburban and urban Las Vegas Valley, spring-fed canyons can be especially interesting to visit.

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August Birding Forecast

Thu, 31 Jul 2025 12:57:13 GMT

By Alex Harper

The birder that gets out in August will be rewarded with observations of migration and post breeding activities of local birds. By late summer, most birds in the northern hemisphere have wrapped up breeding. The young born this year are often now on their own, no longer dependent on their parents. During most of August, many birds are engaging in what is known as post-breeding dispersal .

Post-breeding dispersal is exactly what it sounds like. After breeding and nest-rearing, adult and young birds alike spend time moving away from the nest territory. They will search for food in suitable habitat, and maybe make slow movements southward throughout the day. In short, they are searching for food and fattening up for their upcoming migration in the fall months. Look for local birds wandering into your neighborhoods in the late summer; newcomers may not be migratory but birds wandering locally. You can think of this as birds reshuffling their territories, with the young birds trying to fit in.

This is distinct from migration, which often comes after post-breeding dispersal in the fall for those species that migrate. Migration is better thought of as a seasonal movement between an animal’s suitable breeding range and its suitable wintering territory. Both places serve as critical places for an animal’s survival, so much so that it is beneficial to the species to move in between the two every year of its life.

In August, plovers, stilts and avocets, and sandpipers continue to move in and out of the region. Some of these characteristics include bills that are adapted for feeding on the many organisms that live along environments with shorelines. Shorebirds tend to be capable long-distance flyers, and the shorebirds species that we encounter in Nevada breed in tundra or boreal forest in Canada and Alaska. They may spend their winters in Mexico or Central and South America. Southern Nevada is a stopping point for some of them, and they congregate near the few suitable water sources.

When these shorebirds stop here, they are usually stopping over to refuel. Look for yellowlegs, dowitchers, phalaropes, and various sandpipers at Clark County Wetlands, Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve, and the upper Las Vegas wash. While in shorebird habitat, keep an eye out for unusual herons and egrets, as well as Black Terns.

High-elevation mountains like the Springs and Sheep Ranges promise of water and cooler temperatures and invite migratory birds as well. By early August, hummingbird migration is in full swing. The canyons and hillsides of the higher elevations are ripe with blooming penstemons and thistles, and they continue to entice the odd Calliope or Rufous Hummingbirds, and they will duel with Anna’s, Black-chinned, and Broad-tailed Hummingbirds for rights to flowers.

Some songbirds will begin to sneak through as well. In late August, it can be fruitful to hang out by springs in the Spring Mountains. Deer Creek Picnic Area is a great place. Find any water running by a picnic table and sit by the water. Listen and watch, and eventually you may notice songbirds. They may come in waves of small groups that might be made up of birds of many ages, sexes, and species. These are known as mixed flocks. You may see migratory vireos, warblers, grosbeaks, and tanagers that are coming from other mountain ranges from farther north joining birds that spent the summer in the Spring Mountains, for example. It’s impossible to tell the newcomers from the locals apart, but the fluctuations in numbers during migration help to give part of the plot away.

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July Birding Forecast

Sun, 29 Jun 2025 21:31:48 GMT

By Alex Harper

Monsoon season began in mid-June and will go until late September throughout the Mojave Desert. Monsoonal weather patterns are kicked off as warm, moist air is moved into the region by winds originating in the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of California. When moisture builds and the conditions are right, thunderstorms and thick cumulus clouds begin to move through southern Nevada. Occasionally, the clouds will release water in the form of precipitation, providing the living organisms with much-needed moisture and cooler temperatures.

The pulses of moisture may stimulate insect activity and population growth. This in turn can increase bird activity. In wetter years, cicadas or grasshoppers can be abundant in the Las Vegas Valley. These large insects are important food sources for the many young birds in the area and can help them survive the most challenging parts of their lives: learning to find food without the help of their parents. You may see neighborhood mockingbirds and grackles feeding on grasshoppers, or roadrunners at larger parks chasing them with high levels of success.

Whether or not the monsoons materialize in July, the month tends to be hot and on the slower side throughout the Valley for birds and birders. However, there are bright spots for those willing to brave the heat. Many shorebirds may already be migrating through the area. Shorebirds are some of the first migratory birds to return to the area during southbound migration; their numbers will continue to grow through August and into September. The first birds may be plains breeders such Long-billed Curlews, Willets, and Wilson’s Phalaropes, followed by shorebirds from the boreal forests and Arctic tundra. They are often made up of adult birds that have not bred successfully and have begun moving towards wintering areas, followed by successfully-breeding adults, and later the young birds born and fledged this summer. Look for shorebirds at Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve, the Las Vegas Wash, and flooding lake beds.

Another interesting phenomenon is the movement of some species of waterbirds from Mexico into areas of the desert southwest. In July and August, the Las Vegas area may be graced by unusually occurring wading birds: White Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, Reddish Egret, Little Blue Heron and Yellow-crowned Night-Heron are all species that could show up at wetlands. These are probably young birds born this summer that are dispersing, possibly following the Colorado River up from Mexico and into southern Nevada. It seems that at least one or two of these species will be turned up by birders during July and August.

Birders can escape the heat by heading into the Spring Mountains. By July, many of the high elevation birds have raised young, and breeding activity has slowed. Although birds are less vocal and active, they are still present in these habitats. It won’t be until August that most migratory birds from the Mojave and Great Basin mountain ranges begin to move down into the lowlands, where the risk of encountering high heat and less food, cover and water negates the advantages of getting any head start on southbound movements. The exceptions are hummingbirds; Rufous and occasionally Calliope Hummingbirds will turn up starting in late July at higher elevations. These birds leapfrog across mountain ranges in search of the late summer blooms of penstemon, goldenrod, thistle, and more.

Springtime Surprise

Thu, 29 May 2025 01:08:02 GMT

By Jackson Roth (age 11)

Birding in the springtime offers chances to see birds doing a wide range of behaviors not done during other times of the year. This was one fun surprise we had while birding in late spring.

I love Floyd Lamb. It has been the scene of some of my family’s greatest adventures, like hunting for Great Horned Owls (more about that in an earlier blog post) and seeing a South American Muscovy duck. Its variety of forest, grassland, and wetland habitats means there is a wide range of species in the area. But there’s one species in Floyd Lamb that always annoys us: Canada Geese. They’re squawking at you, they’re trying to bite your hand off, and you’re stepping in their feces. It’s terrible. But one time we went in the spring, and our opinion of Canada Geese went up…slightly, anyway.

It was right after breeding season, and we saw some Canada Geese goslings. Covered in puffy, pale yellow feathers, they were adorable! There were usually three or four in a group, tiny balls of fluff, and as they ran around after their mothers, they furiously beat their tiny wings, hoping that even without flight feathers, they would still be able to soar into the air. We were surrounded with wonderful, waddling goslings.

Seeing so many of them made me a little sad. They’re so cute now, but they will all grow up to be something that wants to bite me and poops all over the sidewalk.

June Birding Forecast

Tue, 27 May 2025 20:07:15 GMT

By Alex Harper

The big pulses of migratory birds have all but ended for the spring season by the beginning of June. The transient shorebirds, vireos, flycatchers, thrushes, warblers, tanagers, grosbeaks and buntings have pushed through the Mojave landscapes along their route to their summer breeding territories. Most of the birds that passed through in May have flown to suitable breeding habitat, found a mate, begun maintaining and defending territory, constructed a nest and started sitting on eggs by early June. In the spring, birds are fixated on getting to a territory and passing their genes successfully. This requires focus to get ahead of any competition.

For birders in the Mojave Desert, June is the beginning of the summer. Those who dedicated to looking for straggling or wayward migratory birds should head to the migrant traps in the area. Migrant traps are any features in the landscape that look appealing to birds. In the desert, a migrant trap may be a small area with trees and water; golf courses, highway rest stops, and springs often qualify as traps because they “pull in birds”. Corn Creek Field Station at Desert National Wildlife Refuge or Floyd Lamb Park are traps that have the potential to attract late or wayward migratory birds. Unassuming highway towns like Primm or Cactus Springs can act as traps as well. In early June, one could be rewarded with a vagrant; Tropical Kingbird, Red-eyed Vireo, or an eastern warbler are all possibilities in June.

Our local birds are deeply engaged in breeding activities. In the lower elevations and the Las Vegas Valley, adults may be feeding nestlings or attending to birds that have fledged the nest. Some birds may begin tending to a second clutch of young. Listen for nestlings begging for food from nests or for fledged young following their parents for handouts. By the end of the month and into July, some birds born this spring are already wandering around on their own, unattended by their parents.

In the higher elevations where cooler temperatures may be lingering, birds are following a later schedule. This means that visitors to the Spring Mountains might be able to enjoy the frenzies of breeding activities of Violet-green Swallows, Broad-tailed Hummingbirds, and songbirds while enjoying cooler weather and the shade of towering Ponderosa Pines. If possible, visit the trails of Fletcher Canyon, Deer Creek, Mary Jane Falls, or upper Lee Canyon on weekday mornings to beat the weekend crowds and take in the June dawn chorus. Those hanging around until nightfall may hear whistling Poorwills, Western Screech-Owl or the low hoots of Flammulated Owls. The Hualapai Mountains near Kingman, Arizona offer similar mountainous getaways along with chances for Zone-tailed Hawk, Painted Redstart, Hepatic Tanager and Canyon Towhee, all of which are difficult to find on our side of the Colorado River.

Otherwise, settle into a Mojave Desert summer. Treat June, July, and August as times to observe young birds or for studying familiar backyard birds. After a few weeks, shorebirds will be on their way southward; it is possible to see migratory shorebirds by late July and August. You may also find companions in insects, spiders, bats and lizards. Slow down and be open to the other animals and you will notice the diversity of pollinating insects and urban invertebrates of southern Nevada. These invertebrates provide food to the summer biomass of the bird populations.

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Corn Creek

Wed, 30 Apr 2025 03:28:53 GMT

By Jackson Roth

We decided to go to Corn Creek for the first time because I had seen some incredible pictures of desert birds from the website www.birdandhike.com . Unlike going to Henderson Bird Preserve or Floyd Lamb Park, we would be spending the entire time in a desert habitat and therefore hopefully seeing the birds that mainly thrive there like Horned Larks and Swainson’s Hawks. We explored the area, and, while the Corn Creek ranch was a cool historical site and the hikes in the barren desert were beautiful, the sparrows, ravens, and mockingbirds there did not excite us. While the afternoon at Corn Creek had been lovely, we hadn’t seen many interesting birds or bird behaviors.

On our way back we had seen some small shapes flitting up in the sky, too far to identify, but then, as we walked out of a cluster of trees, we suddenly saw that there was a group of them, swooping low to a lake. We now recognized them as lesser nighthawks. Above them, swallows were calling while the nighthawks were gliding low to the lake. The nighthawks gracefully flitted and dived, swooped and dodged around each other in a chaotic dance. There were around twenty, together creating a swirling mass of excitement. As they flew around each other and over us, we got a clear view, even in the dim light, of their vibrant white wing streaks. Their reflections in the lake made a beautiful mirror image, and the blooming sunset, also reflected, was a gorgeous backdrop to the scene. We were stunned. What was this behavior? It was captivating, whatever it was.

Later, we researched what this behavior was, and we think they were either skimming the lake for bugs, drinking out of the lake, or both. Nighthawks are crepuscular creatures, so it would make sense that they were feeding in the evening. There were quite a few species of birds around the lake, showing that it was one of the few water sources in this desert area, making it less surprising that a large group of birds was feeding together in this way. While it was stunning to us at the time, they were probably just doing their usual feeding behavior, which shows that sometimes when birds do simple things, it looks incredible to humans.

May Birding Forecast

Wed, 30 Apr 2025 03:05:42 GMT

by Alex Harper

May is perhaps the most exciting month for birders in Southern Nevada. The first two weeks of the month can be exceptionally dynamic in terms of bird activity and species diversity.

With the progressively longer and warmer days, more and more birds pour in from various areas from the south while others continue to depart after spending the winter here. Shorebirds and dozens of species of songbirds that have been absent since last fall begin moving into the area. They look for suitable habitat to rest, find water, and fuel up. What is suitable habitat depends on the species and its preferences, and it may be a well-vegetated yard, park, golf course, or natural area. These birds are often looking to refuel, rest and find water. They must do these while avoiding native predators like Cooper’ Hawks, nonnative predators like cats, and avoid obstacles such as reflective windows, transmission lines, and buildings.

Amongst these songbirds are numerous flycatchers, vireos, Swainson’s Thrushes, wood warblers, sparrows, tanagers, orioles, grosbeaks, buntings, and sparrows. Look for these birds anywhere at any time. You may find that on some days that songbirds are in your neighborhood. Palo Verde trees, with their abundant yellow flowers, can be especially enticing to some of these songbirds. The staple spring migration sites to visit amongst birders have been and continue to be Corn Creek Field Station, Floyd Lamb Park and Clark County Wetlands. Other artificial oases include the interstate community of Primm or the town of Indian Springs. These beacons of green amongst the desert landscape attract thirsty songbirds and birds that prefer foraging in trees.

Songbirds are colorful, diverse, and often accessible to those living in the metropolitan area. One may not need to travel far from home to catch these birds as they pass through. But there is more to May than songbirds. Shorebirds continue to pass through the region. Anyone visiting the Las Vegas Wash, Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve, Bowman Reservoir and other sites may be able to catch members of this diverse order of birds that includes plovers, stilts, avocets and sandpipers. Shorebirds are often considered to be amongst the most difficult of groups of birds to learn if one focuses too much on their plumage or patterns, but pay attention to bill shape, bill size, leg length, and feeding behavior of these birds and you will start to get the swing of the identification process. Shorebirds are mystifying in that they may migrate at high altitudes and cover long distances between wintering and breeding grounds. Most of the shorebirds passing through Southern Nevada may be coming from Mexico, Central, and South America on their way towards the Arctic tundra of Alaska or Canada.

You will also notice that the neighborhood birds have begun to tend to young birds leaving the nests. The sounds of fledglings and nestlings may catch your ear amongst the sounds of passing planes, cars and other artificial sounds. Up in the nearby mountains, however, birds are a few weeks behind. At locations like Deer Creek and Fletcher Canyon in the Spring Mountains, birds may just be arriving to tending to territories. By the end of May, head into the mountains to observe the breeding bird activity in parks of Ponderosa Pines or stands of aspens.

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American Avocets

Fri, 28 Mar 2025 02:20:07 GMT

By Jackson Roth

Last Fall we went to Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve to find some migratory birds to add to our life list.

There is an informative woman at the front desk who often gives advice about the recently seen birds in the preserve. As we were chatting, she mentioned that there were some avocets in an area of the preserve that we had never visited. I looked at the Merlin and Audubon field guides, and, seeing how beautiful and elegant they were, I instantly wanted to see them. I was excited but cautious, since it was migration season, and the avocets might have already flown away. Nevertheless, I suggested that we pass by it during our excursion into the preserve.

After a bit of walking around, we crossed the preserve and got to the turn in the path that we had never gone to before. With high expectations, we turned left at the fork and went along the path. I was assuming there would be clear views onto a lake bursting full of waterfowl. But, as we walked, my high expectations started to falter. It was unexpectedly hot, we were dusty, and there was no lake vista beyond the trees. Eventually we saw our first sign of a lake, some Northern Shovelers chilling on the banks in a small peeking area in the trees. We watched them for a while, but we had seen shovelers all morning, so we moved on, expecting to see the avocets at any step. But, again, I was disappointed. The trees were just too dense; there was no view of the lake. The entire path was trees on one side and a neighborhood on the other. As we walked a bit farther, I finally offered a suggestion. “Maybe we should just turn back. Maybe that peek of the shovelers was the only view we’ll get.” But my parents convinced me that we should keep going; there might be a better view of the lake later on. The heat was getting us in a bit of a going-home mood, but finally we turned a corner, and there it was, a beautiful shining lake. And the avocets.

The avocets were everywhere. Sitting, standing, pecking, chattering. It was amazing to see the large flock of them all clustering and communicating. My mom pulled out her camera and started frantically snapping pictures. While the pictures made the avocets look like fuzzy white blobs, it was a good way to remember that incredible day. My dad and I pulled out our binoculars, furiously swooping back and forth, trying to see all of the action in this avocet flock.

We came back about a week later, and they were gone. That is one of the joys of migration season: see a beautiful sight one week, and it's gone the next. It leaves you with a feeling of “wow, I saw something that will happen in a year or might never happen again. I saw something rare. And really cool.”

Advocacy Alert: Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge

Wed, 26 Mar 2025 20:43:00 GMT

By Morrigan DeVito

From now until April 15, Red Rock Audubon members have a chance to submit a public comment to the BLM and stand up for birds and biodiversity in the Amargosa Valley. On February 27th, the Amargosa Conservancy hosted a public rally and meeting with the BLM to express the need for a mineral withdrawal in Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. A mineral withdrawal would protect these sensitive areas by withdrawing them from new mining claims, and board members John Hiatt and Alex Harper gave verbal comments at the public meeting to express their support alongside the local Amargosa community. There is still time to submit written comments online by visiting the “Save Ash Meadows” campaign on the Amargosa Conservancy’s website , which helps you draft a comment and provides more history on the campaign.

The Amargosa Valley, and Ash Meadows especially, is an oasis for 26 endemic species alongside both migratory and resident birds who seek water, nesting habitat, and food in the form of invertebrates and seeds. Ash Meadows is a RAMSAR wetland of international importance , and a National Audubon Important Bird Area , two designations that reflect the abundance of water and habitats (wetlands, mesquite bosques, desert scrub, alkaline salt flats) found here. It’s no wonder Ash Meadows is a popular birding spot, where springtime migrants like Common Yellowthroats and Yellow Warblers can be heard singing from the springs, and wintering waterfowl and sparrows are among the frequently counted in the annual Ash Meadows Christmas Bird Count. That’s not to mention birds of high conservation concern that make this landscape home, like migratory shorebirds and breeding songbirds like the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, and Least Bell’s Vireo. All of these birds face rapid population declines across the West as habitat is degraded or altered. They can’t afford to lose more. Today’s threat of exploratory drilling and new mining poses an alarming risk to groundwater depletion or alteration of natural spring flows, both of which could drastically alter the habitat so many bird species have come to rely on.

Protecting birds is one reason among many to express the need for a mineral withdrawal to the BLM. Amargosa Conservancy is encouraging people to continue submitting their public comments and stand up for this precious landscape. You have until April 15th to make your voice heard on behalf of birds, water, Tribes, and the local communities of the Amargosa Valley. To submit your comments online and get tips on what to say, visit the Save Ash Meadows campaign on Amargosa Conservancy’s website . Don’t be afraid to get personal! Tell the BLM what Ash Meadows means to you as a birder. This broad support helps show how important a mineral withdrawal is to a variety of communities across the Mojave.

Morning at Manzanita Lake

Thu, 27 Feb 2025 16:29:38 GMT

By Jackson Roth

A month into a summer trip to the Pacific Northwest, we had already heard many of the species in that region, so we were excited to go to Manzanita Lake, in Lassen Volcanic National Park, to try to see a lot of the birds we had been hearing around the area.

We woke up early at Manzanita Lake Campground to make sure we would have dawn birding on the lake full of active, singing birds, where we could admire their cute or majestic plumage.

Manzanita Lake was close to our campground, as its name suggests, so it was a short walk through the woods to get to the lake. It was a diverse habitat, a patch of forest farther from the lake and a bit of reeds and marsh closer to the lake. With the mixture of habitats, we were hopeful that this would be a wonderful birding day. The first things I noticed when we approached the lake were the red-winged blackbird songs. The metallic sounds were constant and from everywhere; along our trip we had been hearing red-winged blackbird songs in marshes and had joked that we should make their songs into ringtones. When you first hear their songs, it can sound grating and annoying, but then you get used to it, and it’s just kind of silly. When we got closer, we could finally see them, and their wings were, as usual, a vibrant shade of red.

The second thing I noticed were the ducklings. As we approached I could see some mallard ducklings and some other ducklings in the distance; those would prove to be bufflehead ducklings. The closer ducklings were yellowish-beige and with their mother, a mallard by her size and brown streaks. We decided to step closer to the shore to see the mallard ducklings better, while being careful not to get too close, and they lived up to the classic image of fluffy, innocent ducklings. Small, puffy cheeks, probably a few weeks old judging by the size and drab color. They were having adorable moments where their mother flipped her body and stuck her head in the water, and they attempted, and kind of succeeded, in doing the same. The mother’s head would go under the surface, then two of the ducklings’ heads would go under the surface, then the whole squad would join them. It was endearing to watch the ducklings grow and learn to be adults.

We had kept Merlin SoundID on this whole time, and soon after that, it heard a bald eagle call. This was exciting since it had been a few trips since we had last seen a bald eagle, and I was struck last time by how large and impressive it was. Knowing that they often roost in tall trees and hunt in nearby bodies of water, we went closer to the lush forest near the lake, looking towards the tops of trees to find the perched raptor. We soon saw it, the majestic bald eagle with a classic yellow beak, white head, and brown body. Well, it would have been majestic, were it not being attacked by four ravens. They furiously tried and tried but were not able to succeed in displacing him. It was fascinating to watch this territorial battle. We kept an eye on the bald eagle, finally able to show his true majesty. But he was later, again, attacked by two of the ravens. We don’t know why, maybe it was a more strategic attack, but they succeeded in displacing him this time. They pecked and stabbed and were finally able to make him fly away from his precious perch.

After this we saw a pied-billed grebe swimming around in the reeds with some squabbling Canada geese. He was compact and pretty with rusty brown feathers and a little white bill. After around five dives under the surface, we finally saw him come up holding the middle of a fish in his bill, the two ends of it hanging out like a silver, gleaming mustache, which he took across the lake to devour. For some strange reason, I felt proud of him for catching that little fish.

After that we got an up close view of the bufflehead ducklings. So so cute, round and fuzzy. They had a beautiful white streak on their cheeks, and the rest of their heads were black. They seemed a bit younger than the mallard ducklings, sitting with their mother on a log. They were adorable. Soon they went for a swim with their mother, little round ducklings bobbing in the small waves on the lake. We saw the fluffy bufflehead ducklings from some different vantage points and got some good pictures.

While we were there we also got some better views of the red-winged blackbirds who continued to create a cacophony of sound as a backdrop to our birding. Their wings were stunning as they flew while some perched on the reeds and sang. We also went on a small hike in the nearby forest which proved to be a secluded place with some yellow-rumped warblers around. They are some of my favorite birds, with their striking yellow plumage and silly nickname “butterbutt.” When we travel north we get to see them in the summer, and in Vegas we get to see them in the winter.

This exciting, bird-filled morning showed us there are often lots of different habitats, and thus different bird species, in a small place while reminding us how much more fun seeing birds is than only hearing them. Without getting any new life listers, it was a fabulous birding day.

Bird Watching and Cleanup at Floyd Lamb Park

Tue, 25 Feb 2025 16:36:29 GMT

By Nancy Olds

The Sierra Club always enjoys participating with our affiliated partners, but this occasion came with a bit of “fowl play.” The Red Rock Audubon Society, which I also belong to, invited volunteers to join them for an early morning bird walk at the historic Floyd Lamb Park at Tule Springs in Las Vegas. Get Outdoors Nevada, an organization rooted in creating a vital link between our outdoor places and our quality of life, held a cleanup on the same day, Saturday, January 18, 2025, shortly after our amazing bird walk.

The bird walk tour, led by the Red Rock Audubon Society’s Andrea Villanueva, the Bird Friendly Community Chairperson, offered us a visual and greatly informative wildlife tour as we viewed migratory birds and residential birds feeding in the four lakes. Normally, a very elusive heron, a black-crowned night heron, was hunting out in the open!

This 680-acre park was once a very historic ranch called Tule Springs Ranch, renowned in the 1930s to the 1940s for six-month residencies for quickie divorces. A desert oasis, Floyd Lamb Park provides many recreational activities including horseback trail rides, bicycling trails, hiking, fishing, and much more! The elegant peacocks and peahens are descendants of the original birds brought to the ranch in the 1940s because they made excellent watchdogs.

Audubon members joined Sierra Club volunteers to remove trash, including fishing lures and lines that could entangle the Canada geese, ducks, double-crested cormorants, American coots, ruddy ducks, Northern shovelers, and gallinules that thrive in these lakes. Get Outdoors Nevada provided the gloves, buckets, trash bags, and the trash pickers or grabbers. In 1981, the City of Las Vegas placed Floyd Lamb Park on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2008, the City of Las Vegas placed it on the City of Las Vegas Register of Historic Places.

It was a beautiful day, well spent giving back to one of our most treasured parks!

An 11 Year Old's View of Birding

Mon, 20 Jan 2025 03:38:04 GMT

By Jackson Roth

Hi, my name is Jackson Roth. I am 11 years old and have been into birds for around a year and a half. My family and I take many vacations, and I have a lot of fun exploring new species in different areas of the country. We were in Yellowstone National Park when my mom first showed me Merlin. I had been interested in wildlife for a long time, but this is what started my focus on birds. Now it has become a tradition that when we arrive in new places, we put the phone down and start Sound ID going, then every few minutes check what we got. As it finds more species, I try to identify their calls and songs without Merlin’s help. My articles will talk about some of my experiences birding across the U.S., exploring different regions and habitats.

Living in Las Vegas means living in the middle of the desert. Bird-watching is a little trickier in the desert as we don’t have woods behind our house or many lakes nearby to see waterfowl. Pigeons, house sparrows, and house finches are the most common birds we get around here, and no one’s excited about seeing a pigeon. We rarely get any owl species, so I was thrilled when I heard that a park near us, Floyd Lamb, had a Great Horned Owl pair staying there.

After I showed them a recent eBird checklist with the owls, my family picked a day to search for the pair. On our way to some groves of trees, we passed a few of Floyd Lamb’s resident peafowl who greeted us with their trumpeted bugle calls. Picking a random clump of trees, we watched and waited for an hour or so but didn’t see any owls among the tall branches. My disappointment grew because we don’t go there very often, and I feared that the owls might be gone by our next visit. Finally, at dusk, we gave up. Walking back, I glanced out of the corner of my eye to see a dark shape swooping through the trees. I went on high alert and searched and searched but couldn’t find it again. Seeing our binoculars, a man walking past showed us a grove where he had seen the Great Horned Owls come out around 5:00. I was elated. I would get to see some owls! When it was light out! This would be the perfect opportunity to see a beautiful owl pair in the daylight.

Excited, we came back the next day to look for the owls. At 4:30, we went to the grove that the man had shown us. Or what we thought was the grove.

Since Great Horned Owls are mostly brown and many of the trees’ leaves were brown (it was fall), we knew that it would probably be hard to find them, so the three of us split up. And we looked. And looked. It had been nighttime when the man had pointed us to the grove that they came in, so we all thought we were looking in the correct spot. My father slightly misunderstood and went looking off in the desert scrub instead of the trees. My mother was looking two hills over from me. And so we each wandered, craning our necks to look up into trees. As the afternoon progressed, I began to worry that we had missed our chance at seeing the owls.

At last, I looked up to see a Cooper’s Hawk high up on a branch, staring down the Great Horned Owl male. I called to my parents, half-whispering, half-yelling (if that is possible) across the two hills. As my parents ran up, the Cooper’s Hawk flew away, and there they were. A male and a female Great Horned Owl. I could see their fluffy ear tufts so clearly. The female, with her wings spread, was sleeping up in a tree. The male was peering down at us with immense golden eyes. For a while the male fluffed his neck feathers to cool off. Watching them so close in the daylight was truly magnificent. We stayed with them for a while, fascinated.

We went home after that but still check for them once in a while when we go to Floyd Lamb Park. Great Horned Owls have been my favorite raptor ever since that evening.

The Christmas Bird Count

Sun, 01 Dec 2024 20:29:58 GMT

AN OPPORTUNITY TO CONTRIBUTE TO GLOBAL SCIENCE

By Alex Harper

Early conservation and Christmas Bird Count history

The end of the 1800s and early 1900s marked a turning point for conservation in the United States. During these years, virtually no laws protected wild animals in North America. Unregulated hunting and land development had spread westward to the Pacific coast over the past few decades in name of manifest destiny, and writers and early conservationists recognized that animal populations and habitats were being lost at alarming rates. Species like the Carolina Parakeet and the once abundant Passenger Pigeon were well on their way to extinction.

This was the era where writers and thinkers like John Muir caught the ear of Teddy Roosevelt, who would go on to create the first National Wildlife Refuge in Florida, establish national parks, and create the Antiquities Act. Around the same time, the hunting of herons and egrets for the harvesting of their specialized breeding feathers to adorn the hats of wealthy women had become popular. One of the designers of these hats went by the name of Coco Chanel, who would found the Chanel brand. Two other women, alarmed by the loss of heron and egret populations, on the other hand, would bring people together to establish the Massachusetts Audubon Society in 1896 in efforts to put an end to this practice and protect bird populations. By 1905, the National Audubon Society would be founded in Boston.

Part of the wave in this iteration of the conservation movement that would sweep across the country came in the form of a bird count during December of 1900. A man named Frank Chapman posed a twist on a Christmas holiday pastime that was popular at the time. The twist: counting birds instead of hunting birds for sport, which was a widespread Christmas tradition at the time. On Christmas day, Frank and 26 other birdwatchers counted birds and tallied species. Most of the counts were in New England, but counters in Canada and California also participated. The Christmas Bird Count, or CBC, was born.

The counts today

Today, the Christmas Bird Count has grown to include over 2,600 '“count circles” across the globe, with 70,000 to 80,000 volunteers participating over recent years. Most of these counts take place in the United States. It is the longest-running community science bird project in the United States, and the National Audubon Society manages and compiles this massive effort.

The counts take place between December 14th and January 5th. Birders, nature and science lovers, and biologists of all skill levels and backgrounds participate, and the counts are meant to welcome as many people in as possible as they are meant to gather information on bird populations.

Each count is done in a count circle. Each circle is 15 miles in diameter, and circles do not overlap. Each count circle has at least one compiler, and the compilers have the task of creating count parties, disseminating the count protocols, orchestrating the efforts, collecting data sheets, and sending data sheets to regional compilers. From there, regional compilers skilled in data quality assurance and control compile data from across counts, and then the data is sent to the science team at National Audubon Society. The science team uses different statistical models to further tease out valuable information from the data.

Each party for each circle includes recording bird species information, search effort details, and weather conditions such as temperature, precipitation, and cloud cover. The species detected by observation and/or sound are recorded, as well as the numbers of individuals of each species. Effort details such as the amount of searchers, time spent, route, and method of observation are recorded. Parties are often designated routes to certain areas with a circle to survey specific or key areas to bring some additional standardization to the surveys.

Large studies like the CBC studies provide valuable insights to bird populations and habitat health on very large spatial scales, as well as time scales. From the data, researchers are able to identify trends such as changes in species abundance and changes in species ranges. The last 125 years have been extremely significant for animal and plant populations in North America and worldwide. CBC data, with all of the data points coming in, can provide critical information necessary for conservation efforts, especially when compared in conjunction with results from other studies.

Counts in Southern Nevada

There are six CBCs in Southern Nevada. Red Rock Audubon, as the local chapter of the National Audubon Society, helps to oversee the ones within our purview of Clark, Lincoln, and Nye Counties. All four local National Wildlife Refuges are covered: Ash Meadows, western portions of Desert National Wildlife Refuge to include Corn Creek, Pahranagat, and Muddy River National Wildlife Refuges are all surveyed, with help from refuge staff and partners.

Areas of Red Rock Canyon are surveyed, including Spring Mountain Ranch and Lovell Canyon during the Red Rock Canyon. The Henderson CBC includes neighborhoods and parks in Whitney, Henderson, and Lake Las Vegas, as well as eastern Lake Mead. Locals will understand that Cornerstone Park, Clark County Wetlands Park and the wash, and Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve are all very important areas for the count.

Red Rock Audubon has agreed to help out with an additional count, the Willow Beach, Arizona CBC, just downstream from the Hoover Dam. Western portions of the circle include parts of Southern Nevada, although the majority is best surveyed along the Colorado River.

You can be a beginner and still contribute...Here’s why!

The count compilers often know their participants. Most often, birders and bird biologists familiar with local birds and locations lead parties, and the rest of the party supports by spotting birds, driving, or recording birds on the data sheet. This ensures that most birds detected can be identified and recorded.

Birding or recording data on species does require observational technique and skill, but the protocol is designed to be inclusive in these ways. Party leaders are encouraged to teach and share what they are seeing. This differs from many other scientific study protocols which may have more complicated methods or sampling.

What you record from your backyard or apartment is also valuable. Participants often do a “feeder watch” from their yard. Thousands of people participate in feeder watches nationwide, and all of these data points together provide valuable information for the CBC.

Your next steps:

The CBCs continue to gain popularity, and Red Rock Audubon supports the CBCs by drumming up help from our members, local birders, biologists, and partners.

To sign up for a count, please visit redrockaudubon.com/events .

If you want a bit more information, then tune in for this informational virtual meeting on December 4th from 6:30-8:00 pm: CBC Informational meeting

We look forward to welcoming you to enjoy birds and the birding community in Southern Nevada. We sometimes need to be reminded of the words of Margaret Mead: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

PROJECT PUFFIN AND HOG ISLAND AUDUBON CAMP - MORRIGAN DEVITO

Sat, 29 Jun 2024 19:58:26 GMT

In June, I had the opportunity to attend Hog Island’s week-long “Joy of Birding” camp thanks to sponsorship I received from Hog Island and Red Rock Audubon. Directed and led by Holly Merker, co-author of Ornitherapy and whose work as a birding guide focuses on the healing power of birds and nature, we learned about leadership in birding, how birds boost our physical and mental wellbeing, and of course– puffins.

After the first Audubon nature camp was hosted here in 1936, today Hog Island staff and volunteers offer a myriad of programs— from family and teen camps to programs geared towards general birding, fall and spring migration, art, field ornithology, and more. Running concurrently with our “Joy of Birding” was a teen camp, where students from around the country got to see conservation up close with field workshops in bird banding, seabird biology, and many other lifechanging experiences.

If there’s a heaven for birders, Hog Island is it. With a wealth of wonders waiting among the mossy red spruce forests, rocky coastlines, and sea snail-studded tide pools, there is no shortage of things to discover and learn on the island. But Atlantic Puffins continue to take the center stage (or rather, the eight miles east stage), and for good reason, considering they almost went locally extinct.

Yet puffins are not the only birds brought back from the brink in this landscape. Every Osprey and Bald Eagle we spotted during camp was a testament to the conservation work of dedicated biologists, writers, teachers, and community members who spoke out against the use of the pesticide DDT in the 1960s. DDT, which was discovered to cause eggshell thinning in raptors after they ate contaminated prey, caused widespread declines.

Meet Project Puffin

With the exposure of DDT’s harm and the words “environmentalism,” “conservation,” and “sustainability” first entering public consciousness, Atlantic Puffins, in all their clownish glory, waddled their way onto the conservation scene. Stephen Kress, a camp instructor in 1969, read in a book about Maine’s birds that the Atlantic Puffin’s historical range once included Eastern Egg Rock and other small islands in coastal Maine. Local puffins were hunted to extinction because adults and eggs made easy targets, and with that realization, Project Puffin was born.

On my camp’s “puffin watching day”, Eastern Egg Rock was shrouded in a tantalizing fog that coyly lifted for one or two moments before descending over the waves again. But for all the fog’s attempts, we still saw the craggy rocks where Kress and his team diligently hand-reared puffins in sod burrows from 1973 to 1986, the rocks disjointed and multilayered as if the ocean haphazardly stacked the island together. Spread across the small island were observation blinds that biologists sit in for hours on end, and sometimes we saw terns mobbing the biologists on the island as they walked to and from their duties.

And of course there were lots of puffins. Puffins on the rocks, puffins in the air, puffins in the water. Rafts and rafts of puffins paddled, dove, and flew together, and a couple even mated on the waves. All of this to the soundtrack of Common Terns screeching and humans oohing and ahhing at every bird—some others including Arctic Terns, a razorbill, black guillemots, common eiders, laughing gulls, and more.

When Audubon camps used to visit Eastern Egg Rock, students would observe it as a thriving gull colony, filled with plucky Greater Black-Backed and Herring Gulls– no puffins and few terns in sight. And though visitors delight in puffins today, Kress faced plenty of criticism and challenges with bringing them back. For starters, Atlantic Puffins were never endangered in Maine, their northern populations were thriving, and wildlife reintroduction was still nascent at the time— its focus on captive breeding and releasing raptors like Peregrine Falcons back to their former range after DDT was banned in 1972.

Kress and his team relocated the first batch of baby puffins from a colony in Newfoundland, transporting them back to Maine in 1973. Their hard work was only just beginning, and the puffin team worked through triumph and tribulation alike for the next decade. Their trials took the form of heat, rain, hurricanes, mites, a plethora of predatory gulls, and more. Despite the odds, they successfully reared hundreds of relocated puffins every spring in handmade sod burrows, feeding them fish round the clock. But there was a problem. Year after year, adults were not returning to breed on Eastern Egg Rock. Had they died at sea? Were they going to breed on other islands with larger colonies? Had they forsaken Egg Rock?

Enter the Decoys

Every evening after the day’s activities, our camps mingled outside, eating delicious food prepared by the chefs and served by the ever-smiling Friends of Hog Island camp volunteers. Following dinner was a different presentation each evening in “The Fish House”, a cabin/library/meeting room space filled with field guides, natural history books, and even a Gannet that hung from the eaves.

Lined up along one of the shelves were seabird models– brightly painted puffins, oystercatchers, terns, and more posing like colorful toys for bird-inclined children. But these were no toys. They were decoys—because in 1977, the first decoy puffins were crafted and placed as a strategy to lure the puffins back to Eastern Egg Rock. Much like us humans chatting and swapping stories about our day as we waited for the evening’s presentation to begin, seabirds are highly social and vocal in their nesting colonies. When it’s time to breed, they go where the other seabirds are– safer from predators like gulls and raptors, as well as mammals like raccoons and mink.

Enough puffins were fooled by the decoys that they started returning to Eastern Egg Rock, and by 1981 pairs began nesting. This had a ripple effect in bringing other puffins to breed, much to the joy of Kress and his team. And this was all because the puffins were convinced by the decoys, as well as mirror boxes and audio playback of tern vocalizations (which puffins feel safer hearing because terns chase away their gull nemeses) that there was already a thriving puffin colony there. And it wasn’t just puffins that returned. The tern playback was soon joined by tern decoys, and then Common, Arctic, and Roseate terns began nesting as well. Eastern Egg Rock was looking more and more like its historical image.

The decoy method was so successful that it is being used today as a conservation tool globally for endangered and threatened seabirds. Now called the “social attraction method”, this strategy helped Kress and his team expand their puffin rearing and tern-attracting to other islands in the Gulf of Maine. Today, seven islands are home to 100% of Maine’s Roseate Terns, alongside 80% of its Common Terns, and 65% of its Arctic Terns all thanks to the attraction strategies that developed under Project Puffin’s wings.

State of the Seabirds

It’s tough to be a bird, no less a seabird. Many seabirds today are considered “tipping point” species according to the 2022 State of the Birds Report, projected to lose half of their population in the next fifty years if conditions remain the same. Among their challenges include warming oceans, plastics, loss of nesting habitat, overfishing, and more.

“Project Puffin”, renamed the Audubon Seabird Institute to encompass the program’s growing number of projects, has provided us with critical information on the health of our seabirds and oceans. In the Gulf of Maine, Atlantic Puffins are now feeling the effects of climate change, though their population is still rebounding. Their home waters are warming triple than that of the world’s oceans as currents from the arctic (the Labrador Current) and the Atlantic (the Gulf Stream) channel warmer water into the enclosed, “bathtub-shaped” region—meaning the warm water has no exit.

Warmer waters mean less of the puffin’s favorite food: small hake and herring. And unlike humans, who are subjective about the word “favorite”, for puffins this means they’ve evolved to feed their young fish of this size. Any bigger and the babies choke and may die in their burrows, never seeing the waves that call them. Any smaller and they may not get the nutrition they need, setting them up for failure on the unyielding sea. Puffins are the proverbial “canary in the coalmine” for the state of our oceans. And alongside them are other sensitive seabirds like terns, razorbills, guillemots, and more.

A Final Reflection

If Project Puffin teaches us anything, it’s that conservation is a dynamic story. Puffins and other seabirds are facing challenges that Kress and his team may not have imagined. But at the same time, there may be solutions that we have not yet imagined. The more people we connect to nature, the more ideas and conservation we are cultivating.

At camp, I noticed that our conversations had many common threads– how birds have changed our lives for the better, how we help birds in our communities, and our worries and hopes about the future. Above all, whether we were “list birders,” “backyard birders,” “vacation birders,” or something else altogether, many of us came away with ideas we want to bring back to our own community—I heard people say they were going to set up bird feeders at retirement homes, volunteer for their local Audubon chapter, take their grandkids birding, and more.

It’s not so different here in the Red Rock Audubon community. Our history as a chapter is more recent, and our conservation challenges are very different, but it is our love of birds and belief that we can make the world better for birds and people that connects us and all our different skills. It’s one thing to be a birder, but it’s another thing to be a birding leader. Leadership can look as simple as pointing out birds to your friends, or as in-depth as volunteering to lead a birding event.

Regardless of how you share your love of birds with others, as a birding leader you seek to foster people’s experiences of joy and wonder with everyday birds—and that is crucial in conservation, whether you’re looking at desert birds or seabirds. So how can you cultivate those experiences for yourself and others?

If you’re interested in attending Hog Island Audubon Camp, check their camp schedule — there are still some vacancies in 2024’s camps, and 2025 camps will be announced this October. And to learn more in-depth about Project Puffin and some current seabird conservation projects, join my Zoom presentation on July 10 !

"Pathways to Conservation" Applications Now Open!

Thu, 20 Jun 2024 19:49:59 GMT

Are you eager to make a difference in local bird conservation, connect with like-minded people, and deepen your knowledge of the Mojave Desert’s birds and life zones? This fall, we have a program for you!

Pathways to Conservation is our new volunteer and education program led by Alex Harper, our Education & Outreach Chair. This program is split into two cohorts: one for adults, and one for high school students interested in careers in biology and conservation.

Who Should Join?

People interested in volunteering for RRAS and supporting bird conservation should consider joining. After completing the course, you will have a wide breadth of knowledge in Mojave Desert life zones, priority bird species, threats and conservation, as well as laws that impact our birds and how our partnering agencies work.

This course is designed to support go-getters and people who want to make a difference locally. A passion for birds and conservation is a must, as well as the ability to commit to the program and maintain a volunteer commitment to RRAS after the program ends. We are especially looking for people who are curious, committed, and communicative!

Expect to Learn

Expect to get the background needed to get started at being an effective communicator about things that matter. To set you up, you will be introduced to the following and more:

The habitats of the Mojave Desert from riparian to alpine and everything in between
The bird families in Nevada, their roles in local ecosystems, and why they matter
The land managers and agencies that manage the land where Nevada’s birds live, how they operate, and how Red Rock Audubon members can work with them
The local and landscape scale threats to birds and their habitats, and what can be done
The history of Red Rock Audubon’s role in the community and what we can build from to meet the moment

How Will You Benefit?

The course is meant to give you the “needs to know”, and there are many ways to apply what you learn. How and where in your life you apply it is ultimately going to be what interests you the most, and so it should compliment your life and your other commitments. It's simple: we are successful and supported as an organization when we help you on your unique path. Here are a few ways that you’ll benefit:

You’ll gain skills to become an interpretative naturalist, outdoor educator, or wildlife biologist
You’ll gain the background to become a better communicator of complex ideas as an educator or advocate
You’ll be able to take an active role in teaching kids and teens about birds and habitats at interesting locations
You’ll have the clarity to feel sure about the best use of your time and focus to make an effective difference
You’ll meet land managers, biologists, and conservationists on the lands that they work on and about the land

What is Expected of You?

The Pathways to Conservation begins in early September and ends in early December. To fully complete the program, you are required to attend the classes and field trips. The classes will be recorded. Each cohort will have:

Ten evening weekday classes on Zoom on Tuesday nights
Five total field outings on weekends to learn more about local habitats, conservation priorities, and managing agencies, including:
Mt Charleston
Corn Creek at Desert National Wildlife Refuge
Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve
Avi Kwa Ame National Monument

After completing this program, it is expected that you begin give back a certain amount of time to RRAS as a volunteer. This is because we need people to play an active role in moving us forward. Expect to volunteer a minimum of 20 hours in 2025. Adults will step into supported RRAS-sponsored roles, such as:

Becoming a volunteer park or field trip leader by spring 2025
Communicating regularly with an agency or park manager and reporting to the appropriate RRAS committee.
Participating in citizen science programs, such as Christmas Bird Counts, shorebird surveys, or Great Basin Bird Observatory’s citizen science initiatives
Teaching students at schools, community centers, or the Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve
Providing education public presentations to partners and organizations curious about birds
Gathering information, preparing for, or engaging in discussions publicly or privately with policy-makers, park or land managers, and renewable energy developers
Assist in transportation or other logistics of youth program
Working in coalitions with our community partners
Joining the Board of Directors for an appropriate role

For high-schoolers, students will be expected to choose a local wetland or park (such as the Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve) and do a habitat assessment and bird survey, as well as plan and execute a stewardship event and create a suggested management plan for the site. Students will learn how to do these steps through the program, and their final report will be delivered to the members of RRAS leadership. All of these skills make excellent resume boosters , and students will come away with professional connections to leaders in RRAS as well as our partnering agencies.

Class Times - Adults

Our ten adult classes are virtual on Tuesday nights, starting at 6:00 pm. Each course will be about 90 minutes. There are up to five field trips during the span of the virtual courses. They will be on Saturdays. To get the most benefit, you should aim to make most of the field trips.

Adult Virtual Meeting Times

September 10 from 6:00-7:30 pm - Mojave Desert Introduction

September 17 from 6:00-7:30 pm - Plant Communities Part One

October 1 from 6:00-7:30 pm - Plant Communities Part Two

October 8 from 6:00-7:30 pm - Nevada Birds Part One

October 15 from 6:00-7:30 pm - Nevada Birds Part Two

October 22 from 6:00-7:30 pm Laws and Regulations Protecting Birds

October 29 from 6:00-7:30 pm Threats to Birds in the Mojave and what You Can Do

November 12 from 6:00-7:30 pm - Threats to Birds in the City and What You Can Do

November 19 from 6:00-7:30 pm Communication of Complex Topics

December 3 from 6:00-7:30 Bringing it All Together

Adult In-Person Field Trip Dates

Exact times to be determined, but generally dawn to lunch time. We will meet partners and do some birding!

September 21 – Mount Charleston Life Zones and Intro to the Forest Service system

October 5 – Corn Creek Field Station and Intro to the National Wildlife Refuge system

October 19 – Avi Kwa Ame National Monument and Intro to the Bureau of Land Management

October 26 – Clark County Wetlands and Intro to Working with County Partners

November 9 – Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve and Intro to Working with City Partners

Class Times – High Schoolers

Our ten teen classes are virtual and will be on Thursday nights, starting at 6:00 pm. Each course will be about 90 minutes.

There are up to five field trips during the span of the virtual courses. They will be on Sundays. To get the most benefit, you should aim to make most of the field trips.

Virtual Meeting Times

September 12 from 6:00-7:30 pm - Mojave Desert Introduction

September 19 from 6:00-7:30 pm - Plant Communities Part One

September 26 from 6:00-7:30 pm - Plant Communities Part Two

October 3 from 6:00-7:30 pm – Get to Know Nevada Birds Part One

October 10 from 6:00-7:30 pm – Get to Know Nevada Birds Part Two

October 17 from 6:00-7:30 pm Protecting Birds

October 24 from 6:00-7:30 pm Threats to Birds in the Mojave and What You Can Do

November 14 from 6:00-7:30 pm - Threats to Birds in the City and What You Can Do

November 21 from 6:00-7:30 pm Communication of Complex Topics

December 5 from 6:00-7:30 Bringing it All Together

High School In-Person Field Trip Dates

Exact times to be determined, but generally dawn to lunch time. We will meet partners and do some birding!

September 22 – Mount Charleston Life Zones and Intro to the Forest Service system

October 6 – Corn Creek Field Station and Intro to the National Wildlife Refuge system

October 20 – Avi Kwa Ame National Monument and Intro to the Bureau of Land Management

October 27 – Clark County Wetlands and Intro to Working with County Partners

November 10 – Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve and Intro to Working with City Partners

December 7 – Conservation Project at Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve

Ready? Fill Out Our Application

If you’re reading this and thinking, “that’s me!” then fill out the application to join the program today. Space is limited in each cohort, and applications close on September 1st. If you have additional questions, reach out to Alex Harper at alexharper@redrockaudubon.com

We will try to work with you if your transportation options are limited. We don’t want to turn anyone away because they can’t make it to in-person portions, but we need time to plan for it. If you would like for us to try to sponsor or support local and relevant travel, please let us know in the application.

Link to the adult application .
Link to the high school application .

Shorebirds of Southern Nevada

Tue, 30 Apr 2024 20:00:18 GMT

Shorebirds are truly impressive flyers – their bodies are sleek, their wings pointed and long. They move quickly and powerfully across the sky with fast, shallow wingbeats, propelled forward by powerful pectoral muscles. In 2022, one species of shorebird had its moment in the national news cycle as major newspapers picked up on impressive results from a study which tagged shorebirds called Bar-tailed Godwits. A few godwits in Alaska were captured by biologists, tagged with low-weight tracking beacons, and released. These birds breed in Alaska, but head down to New Zealand or Tasmania for the winter. Until birds could be tracked using modern, light-weight systems, no one could say for certain how long it takes for these migratory birds to get from one place to another, and which routes they take. But the results from the biologists’ tracking and reporting on their birds were newsworthy: one bird had flown from Alaska to New Zealand, flying across most of the Pacific Ocean, a route of more than 8,400 miles, in just eleven days. The bird was four months old.

Anyone who caught this news, even biologists and birders already paying attention to shorebirds, would have likely been impressed. But while the godwit may be a world superlative, we here in Nevada are also in luck, as our area plays host to its own impressive assemblage of long-distance athletes. To see them, you’ll need to visit the right habitats at the right time of year.

The word “shorebird” refers to a related group of bird families, and includes jacanas, avocets, stilts, plovers, and the richly diverse sandpipers. Some of the plovers and most of the sandpipers are long-distance migrants, meaning that their populations will cover vast amounts of ground throughout the year depending on the season. Yellowlegs breed in the spruce forests of Alaska and Canada and spend the winter in the southern states, Mexico, and tropical America. Western Sandpipers breed in open tundra in Alaska and then head to coastal Mexico. Long-billed Curlews breed in arid prairies across the west, but head to the Pacific and Gulf of Mexico to feed on crabs for the winter.

There are about fifty species of shorebirds whose populations can be found in North America at some point during the year. Some species rarely leave the coastlines of the Pacific or Atlantic, but most shorebirds that criss-cross the continent’s interior will show up in Nevada. When they do, most will assuredly be near water. Aside from the Killdeer and Long-billed Curlew, Nevada's shorebirds will need to locate a water source for finding food and security. Wetlands, pond and lake edges, and shallow flooded areas, like Ash Meadows NWR, Las Vegas Wash, and Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve, are the preferred stopover habitats for shorebirds that migrate through Nevada twice a year. During the late summer or early fall, you may also find shorebirds feeding in flooded dry lake beds. Monsoons can fill ancient lakes with water, inviting small tadpole shrimp out of dormancy in the dried sediment.

To find and observe shorebirds, visit wetlands or flooded areas with expansive, shallow water and mudflats. Most shorebirds avoid areas close to dense vegetation, where predators can ambush them. Spring migration may begin in March, peak in late April, and continue into May. Fall migration can begin as early as late July, gain momentum in August, and peak in early September. Small number of Greater Yellowlegs and Long-billed Dowitchers may overwinter in wetlands, while Killdeer are in the region throughout the year. At all times of the year, shorebirds will mix and mingle, often congregating where the water levels are optimal and the found bountiful.

We don’t get more than a few optimal weeks per year to observe shorebirds. Many of them look similar, and they’re often skittish and sometimes observed only from a distance. For these and other reasons, shorebirds can be challenging to birders of all skill levels. Try doing the following when you see a shorebird this spring: first, get an impression of the shape of the bird. Look at the shape of the beak, as well as the beak length relative to the size of the bird’s head. Unless the bird is wading, you should be able to see the length of the bird’s legs. Note the leg color, and get a sense of the bird’s back and wing colors. Check the breast or flanks for any patterns and their colors.

Watch the bird’s forward movements, and how the bird appears to look for food. Yellowlegs stride and pick at the surface, dowitchers move slowly along as they aggressively probe in the mud, and short-legged Western Sandpipers run quickly at the edge of any shallow water source.

Finally, listen for any vocalizations that the bird may make. During migration, shorebirds are usually only giving simple calls, but most are recognizable to species by these sounds. Some shorebirds make simple notes, often repeated, while some may chatter quickly. Most plovers tend to give long whistling notes.

By getting a sense of the bird’s beak and body shape, how the bird moves and forages, where in the water or shore the bird feeds, and a sense of color and pattern of the bird, you will collect many of the key pieces to identifying most shorebirds under most circumstances. Continue to hone in on the personalities and subtle patterns of these birds, and you’ll find yourself always looking to discover something new about shorebirds. Head to wetlands and begin searching around muddy areas bordered by shallow water. These areas are critical stopover habitats for shorebirds and other water birds that migrate through the arid west, where late April-early May is the window for peak numbers and diversity.

Photo: Least Sandpiper by Alex Harper

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Shorebirds of Southern Nevada