Birds of the Pajarito Plateau

Text by Michele Altherr and Hari Viswanathan
Photographs by Hari Viswanathan and others

Have you ever had your day brightened by watching a carefree little bird hop about in your yard? Whether you are a casual observer or an avid birder, there is always more to learn about birds. When identifying birds, grab your binoculars and start by noticing some of its features. Try comparing its size to something you know. Notice its shape including head, tail, and beak. Check for color and special markings from head to toe. Watch for habits of behavior when it is perched, feeding, and flying. With time, voice and songs will become more familiar. Remember that males are usually more brightly colored whereas females wear more inconspicuous colors for nesting. Notice the time of year. Songbirds molt yearly, usually in the fall. With their new feathers, migratory birds head south, usually by safety of night. The stay-at-homes seek out the best local food source. After you've made all your observations, go to a bird guide and look it up.

Birds need food, water, shelter, and a safe place to hide, yet these are dwindling worldwide. You can provide for them. Birds have diverse diets, and observing their beaks will give you a clue as to what they eat. Their natural foods include insects, worms, nuts, berries, fruits and seeds. At your backyard feeder, sunflower seeds, mixed seeds, millet, peanut butter mix, and fruits are a few treats you can try. The sound of dripping water is a magnet for birds who use it for drinking, bathing and frolicking. If your water source is three feet above ground or has a perch, the birds can watch for predators. Birds are finicky about nesting sites and manmade nesting boxes. You'll notice that many birds depend on snags - standing dead trees - for nesting sites. If you would like to entice birds to a nesting box, put the box up before the early birds arrive, and clean out old nests. Birds like wild overgrown backyards. Creating a garden with many varieties of plants provides for diverse food sources. Berry bushes (currant, hawthorn, chokecherry, and juniper) and wildflowers (sunflowers and beebalm) are good sources of food and hiding places for birds. Hazards for birds include cats, windows, and squirrels and deer that often beat them to the bird feeder. You can keep your cat indoors, paste a silhouette of a hawk on your window, and look for feeders with slippery umbrellas or cages. Birds are wonderful to watch and listen to, so go outside today and notice the birds in your backyard.

About the photos

Most of the birds photographed by the Viswanathans have been seen in our yard at 690 Los Pueblos, which is a backyard wildlife habitat certified by the National Wildlife Federation. By providing food, shelter, cover and water, we have seen an amazing variety of birds over the years. An additional advantage of the yard is that it is sandwiched between two canyons, making it a major flyway for migratory species. The water garden acts as a wonderful attractant for migrants. We have provided short descriptions focusing on which elements in the garden attract these birds to the yard and how frequently we have seen them. For more information, the Atlas of Breeding Birds of Los Alamos County is an amazing resource.

The chart below lists the birds of Los Alamos County. Links go to pages with photographs. The list is arranged (approximately) according to the New Mexico Ornithological Society checklist. We also provide a Printable Bird Checklist (.doc file, version July 2009) for the Pajarito Plateau, which lists the same birds as the list below.

Bird Pages: 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |

Printable Bird Checklist (.doc file) for the Pajarito Plateau. Updated July 2009.