Through the Arizona Bird Conservation Initiative (ABCI, a partnership coordinated by the Arizona Game and Fish Department) various partners have joined to promote the development of a unified breeding bird monitoring strategy that will help us better understand the distribution, habitat use, and population status and trends of poorly-monitored bird species and species of concern of the Sonoran Desert.
The study area includes native Sonoran Desert habitats, including dry washes in southern and western Arizona. This 3-year project began in 2012 and will run through the 2014 breeding season, with additional 3-year cycles to be repeated in the future to quantify long-term trends. They have recorded over 130 species, with Black-throated Sparrow, Verdin, Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Mourning Dove, and House Finch being the most abundant.
This effot facilitates pooling of resources to work at a much larger scale than would be possible otherwise. It also helps resource managers in the region to better understand their level of stewardship for Sonoran Desert birds.
Learn more: http://sonoranjv.org/news/sonoran-desert-breeding-bird-surveys-a-coordinated-approach/
