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New Mexico

This page lists books about birds and birdwatching in the US state of New Mexico.

The books are arranged by publication date with the most recent at the top of the page.


USA

For bird books that cover all, or a large part of, the USA see the following page:

USA bird books

 

Birding Hot Spots of Santa Fe, Taos, & Northern New Mexico

Judy Liddell & Barbara Hussey

W L Moody, Jr, Natural History Series #51

Texas A & M University Press

2015

"In their second guide to birding in New Mexico, Judy Liddell and Barbara Hussey share their experiences and intimate knowledge of the best places to find birds in and around Santa Fe and other areas in northern New Mexico. Following the same format as their book on the Albuquerque area, the authors describe 32 sites organized by geographic regions. Along with a general description of each area, the authors list target birds; explain where and when to look for them; give driving directions; provide information about public transportation, parking, fees, restrooms, food, and lodging; and give tips on availability of water and picnic facilities and on the presence of hazards such as poison ivy, rattlesnakes, and bears. Maps and photographs provide trail diagrams and images of some of the target birds and their environments."

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Western Birds: Backyard Guide

Bill Thompson III

Cool Springs Press

2013

"Inside, you'll find profiles of the 55 most common birds in the West, complete with large color photos, gender-specific physical descriptions, nesting and feeding information, bird call particulars, and interesting stories about each species. Thompson also introduces the reader to the basics of bird watching: essential gear, bird-friendly food and plantings, housing tips, and observational techniques. This guide covers Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Idaho, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, California, Alaska, and western Texas."

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Birding Hot Spots of Central New Mexico

Judy Liddell & Barbara Hussey

Texas A & M University Press

2011

"Covering the Rio Grande corridor, the Sandia and Manzano Mountains, Petroglyph National Monument, and the preserved areas and wetlands south of Albuquerque (including crane and waterfowl haven Bosque del Apache), Birding Hotspots of Central New Mexico offers twenty-nine geographically organized site descriptions, including maps and photographs, trail diagrams, and images of some of the birds and scenery birders will enjoy. Along with a general description of each area, the authors list target birds; explain where and when to look for them; give driving directions; provide information about public transportation, parking, fees, restrooms, food, and lodging; and give tips on availability of water and picnic facilities and on the presence of hazards such as rattlesnakes, bears, and poison ivy. The book includes a "helpful information" section that discusses weather, altitude, safety, transportation, and other local birding resources. The American Birding Association's code of birding ethics appears in the back of the book, along with an annotated checklist of 222 bird species seen with some regularity in and around Albuquerque."

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Raptors of New Mexico

Editor: Jean-Luc E. Cartron

University of New Mexico Press

2010

"Did you know that the turkey vulture has been seen by pilots soaring as high as 20,000 feet? Or that the Greater Roadrunner scoots along on two spindly legs at speeds of up to 15 miles per hour as it chases down rattlesnakes and hummingbirds for food? These and 143 other species of birds found in the U.S. Southwest are featured in this handy field guide. Arizona birding experts Kurt and Cindy Radamaker have co-authored this easy-to-use guide, which features accurate color illustrations of each species along with range maps and text on characteristics and natural history."

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Birds of the Great Plains: Breeding Species and Their Distribution

Paul A. Johnsgard

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries

2009

This is a revised, electronic edition of a book that was originally published in 1980. This revised edition contains new range maps for many species, a new essay 'Three Decades of Change in Great Plains Birds,' and an updated bibliography of breeding bird surveys and state, regional, national, and species references.

"This book is the first to describe systematically all of the species of birds known to have bred or to breed at present in the Great Plains, a major ecological unit that encompasses all or part of part of eleven states: North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas."

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Birds of the US-Mexico Borderland: Distribution, Ecology, and Conservation

Editors: J.M. Ruth, T. Brush, and D.J. Krueper

Studies In Avian Biology 37

Cooper Ornithological Society

2008

"A collection of articles by ornithology experts on distribution and abundance, population trends, ecology, and conservation."

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Arizona and New Mexico Birds

Kurt Radamaker, Cindy Radamaker and Gregory Kennedy

Lone Pine Publishing

2007

"Did you know that the turkey vulture has been seen by pilots soaring as high as 20,000 feet? Or that the Greater Roadrunner scoots along on two spindly legs at speeds of up to 15 miles per hour as it chases down rattlesnakes and hummingbirds for food? These and 143 other species of birds found in the U.S. Southwest are featured in this handy field guide. Arizona birding experts Kurt and Cindy Radamaker have co-authored this easy-to-use guide, which features accurate color illustrations of each species along with range maps and text on characteristics and natural history."

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Field Guide to Birds: Arizona & New Mexico

Jonathan Alderfer

National Geographic

2006

"Featuring as many as 175 birds apiece and nearly 300 photographs, illustrations and maps, this handy, informative book adds two Southwestern states to National Geographic's growing series of field guides. Like its predecessors, this guide provides birders with quick and easy access to the kind of specific facts and savvy advice that they need: a regional map of birding hotspots; a knowledgeable introduction by a local expert on which birds to look for, where to find them, and what to focus on when they appear; a section on birding basics, field identification, and how to make the best use of the guide and its resources; scores of individual entries with photographs of each bird, recognition tips, and notes on behavior, habitat, and particular sites; and two indexes: one color-coded, the other alphabetical with life list boxes."

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Field Guide to the Sandia Mountains

Editor: Robert Julyan and Mary Stuever

University of New Mexico Press

2005

"This guide will assist visitors in discovering the diverse natural features of the Sandias. Field Guide to the Sandia Mountains includes sections on ecology, including weather and fire, geology, flora (grasses, flowers, trees) and fauna (arthropods, reptiles and amphibians, birds, mammals), and recreational opportunities. Plant keys and fauna checklists add to the book's features. Rather than a comprehensive field guide, the selections offer the most commonly encountered species in each category, presenting information on just over 100 species of flowers, for example, among almost 500 species that can be found in the mountains."

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Desert Wetlands

Lucian Niemeyer and Thomas Lowe Fleischner

University of New Mexico Press

2005

"In Desert Wetlands a distinguished photographer and a passionate naturalist document sites in the American Southwest and Mexico that are gauges to the environment. The wetlands included are Cuatro Cienegas Basin in Coahuila, Mexico, the San Pedro River in Arizona, the Escalante River in Utah, the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico, the playas and wetlands in Arizona, the Mohave Desert in California, and the Big Bend National Park in Texas."

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Birds of the Great Plains: Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas

Bob Jennings, Ted Cable and Roger Burrows

Lone Pine Publishing

2005

"Encounter 325 of the most common or notable birds found in the Great Plains states, presented with beautiful full-color illustrations and comprehensive notes on habitat, nesting, feeding and voice, as well as best sites for viewing."

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Birding the Southwestern National Parks

Roland H. Wauer

Texas A & M University Press

2004

"In this book, veteran parks interpreter Ro Wauer introduces the pleasures of birding in the national parks of the American Southwest. From California to Texas, from hugely popular destinations such as Arizona's Grand Canyon to the mostly undiscovered shores of Amistad National Recreation Area, Wauer visits seventeen sites and gives us his advice on what birds to expect to see and where and how to find them. Written by a birder for birders, this book introduces readers to some of the best birding north of the Mexican border, as well as some of the most impressive scenery anywhere. Wauer takes readers on a personal tour, pointing out where to go to see a vast array of each park's bird life: Le Conte's Thrashers in Death Valley, Clark's and Western Grebes at Lake Mead, Phainopeplas at Organ Pipe Cactus, Lucy's Warblers at Saguaro, Peregrine Falcons in Grand Canyon, Cave Swallows at Carlsbad Caverns, Magnificent Hummingbirds at Guadalupe Mountains, and Colima Warblers in Big Bend. Birding the Southwestern National Parks is written for anyone visiting, planning to visit, or dreaming of visiting the Southwestern national parks."

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Birds of New Mexico: Field Guide

Stan Tekiela

Adventure Publications

2003

"Learn about and identify birds using Stan Tekiela's state-by-state field guides. The full-page, color photos are incomparable and include insets of winter plumage, color morphs and more. Plus, with the easy-to-use format, you don't need to know a bird's name or classification in order to easily find it in the book. Using this field guide is a real pleasure. It's a great way for anyone to learn about the birds in your state."

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Faces of the Great Plains: Prairie Wildlife

Bob Gress and Paul A. Johnsgard

University Press of Kansas

2003

"The Great Plains are America's biological melting pot, drawing creatures from surrounding regions to create a rich diversity of wildlife. This book illuminates the enormous variety and uniqueness of prairie wildlife - featuring 150 of the most interesting and important species."

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New Mexico Bird Finding Guide

John E Parmeter, Bruce Neville, Doug Emkalns

New Mexico Ornithological Society

3rd edition

2002

A guide to birdwatching sites in the state plus an annotated checklist.

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Birds of the Southwest: Arizona, New Mexico, Southern California and Southern Nevada

John H. Rappole

Texas A & M University Press

2001

"This handbook provides information on identification, habit preferences, voice, seasonal occurrence, and abundance of over 450 species of birds found in the American Southwest. Each species description is accompanied by a distribution map and a photograph to aid identification."

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New Mexico: Wildlife Viewing Guide

Jane Susan MacCarter

Falcon Press

2000

A guide to wildlife "viewing" sites in the state.

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Field Guide to the Southwestern States: Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah

Peter Alden, Peter Friederici

National Audubon Society

Taylor Trade Publishing

1999

"Filled with concise descriptions and stunning photographs, the National Audubon Society Field Guide to the Southwestern States belongs in the home of every resident of the Southwest and in the suitcase or backpack of every visitor. This compact volume contains: an easy-to-use field guide for identifying 1,000 of the state's wildflowers, trees, mushrooms, mosses, fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, butterflies, mammals, and much more; a complete overview of the southwestern region's natural history, covering geology, wildlife habitats, ecology, fossils, rocks and minerals, clouds and weather patterns, and the night sky; and an extensive sampling of the area's best parks, preserves, mountains, forests, and wildlife sanctuaries, with detailed descriptions and visitor information for 50 sites and notes on dozens of others."

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A Field Guide to Birds of the Desert Southwest

Barbara L. Davis

Gulf's Fieldguide Series

Taylor Trade Publishing

1997

"This field guide takes you to the desert and grassland areas of Arizona, California, and New Mexico where the total number of bird species reaches a staggering 440. Included are 21 desert birding hot spots, in-depth descriptions and behavioral information, 8 bird charts, and much more."

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Watchable Birds of the Rocky Mountains

Mary Taylor Gray

Mountain Press

1997

"If you have been charmed or intrigued by birds, would like to know more about them, but don't consider yourself a 'birdwatcher,' then this book is for you. Designed for families, tourists, casual nature lovers, and anyone who enjoys birds and wildlife, 'Watchable Birds of the Rocky Mountains' goes beyond identification to reveal the 'private lives' of our feathered friends. This fun yet informative guide covers the Rocky Mountain region of New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, British Columbia, and Alberta. Contents: How to Use this Book; How to Watch Birds; Wildlife Watching; Ethics and Etiquette; Birds of the Plains; Birds of the Wetlands;and Birds of the Mountains."

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Watchable Birds of the Southwest

Mary Taylor Gray

Mountain Press

1995

"A full color guide to 68 of the South-West most fun-to-watch species of birds. Organised by habitat: Wetlands, open country, mountains and mesas. Covers Arizona, New Mexico, and parts of Utah, Colorado, California and Texas."

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Birds of the Great Plains: Breeding Species and Their Distribution

Paul A. Johnsgard

University of Nebraska Press

1980

"This book is the first to describe systematically all of the species of birds known to have bred or to breed at present in the Great Plains, a major ecological unit that encompasses all or part of part of eleven states: North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas. Although the original Great Plains ecosystem - the grassland biome - has been greatly altered by modem agriculture, remnants still exist in national and state parks, grasslands, and refuges, as well as in rural cemeteries, railroad rights-of-way, and small nature reserves. These areas support populations of nearly all the original and introduced birdlife - approximately 320 species - of the Great Plains."

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Revised Check-List of the Birds of New Mexico

John P. Hubbard

New Mexico Ornithological Society

1978

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Breeding Birds of Elephant Butte Marsh

Charles A. Hundermark

New Mexico Ornithological Society

1978

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Summer Birds of the San Juan Valley, New Mexico

Carl Gregory Schmitt

New Mexico Ornithological Society

1976

From the introduction: "This study was undertaken to place on record the summer birdlife of the San Juan Valley, their breeding status, relative abundance, regularity of occurrence, vegetation types utilized, and zoogeographic affinities. In general, my study follows that of Hubbard (1971) of the Gila Valley in southwestern New Mexico, the only other treatise of a similar nature to mine."

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Check-List of the Birds of New Mexico

John P. Hubbard

New Mexico Ornithological Society

1970

100 page annotated checklist.

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Bird-finding localities in the vicinity of Roswell, New Mexico

Vester A. Montgomery and Mary Huey

New Mexico Ornithological Society

1969

10 page guide to birding sites.

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Bird Finding Localities in Southwestern New Mexico and Southeastern Arizona

Dale A. Zimmerman, Bruce J. Hayward, and Mary Huey

New Mexico Ornithological Society

1966

12 page guide to birding sites.

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Birds of New Mexico

Florence Merriam Bailey

With Contributions by the Late Wells Woodbridge Cooke

Illustration: Louis Agassiz Fuertes, Allan Brooks

New Mexico Department of Game and Fish

1928

Preface:

The connection of the Biological Survey with the present volume began in 1889, when Vernon Bailey, field naturalist of the Division of Ornithology and Mammalogy, as the Survey was then called, spent several weeks in making collections and observations in New Mexico, under the direction of the first chief of the Bureau, Dr. C. Hart Merriam. Beginning in 1903, Mr. Bailey was detailed to make a biological survey of New Mexico, and he with Mrs. Bailey and various members of the Survey devoted several field seasons to the work of collecting specimens and notes on the birds and other wild life of the State. Several years ago, during the administration of Henry W. Henshaw, the late Wells W. Cooke was detailed to bring together for publication all available data on the bird life of the State, under the direction of Dr. E. W. Nelson, then chief of the Bureau's division of biological investigations. This task, when nearing completion, was interrupted by the death of Professor Cooke. For some time the work remained unfinished. Then Mrs. Bailey, whose extensive publications on western birds included important original contributions on the birds of New Mexico, was asked by Doctor Nelson, at that time chief of the Bureau, to bring the report to date. The scope of the work was then enlarged, and the resulting book, the first comprehensive report on the bird life of the Southwest, is herewith presented.
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Last updated January 2014