New Mexico Ornithological Society

Thanks to everyone who joined us for our Short-eared Owl Field Expedition this past weekend in Quay and Union counties! Across our 3-day survey effort, we tallied at least 9 and as many as 13 Short-eared Owls, constituting the first ever records for Quay and Union counties and filling in a gap in our knowledge about this species' distribution in the Northeast part of the state! Keep your eyes peeled for more exciting field expeditions coming up this year! Trip report: https://ebird.org/tripreport/463375

Save the date for our 2026 NMOS Field Expedition! We will be searching the grasslands of Eastern New Mexico, primarily in Quay and Harding counties, hoping to find wintering Short-eared Owls.

Contact Matt at [email protected] if you're interested, and for more details.

Registration is open for our 2025 ANNUAL MEETING, which will take place May 17-18 in Silver City, at Western New Mexico University's ABC Auditorium.

For more details and to register for the meeting, please visit: https://www.memberplanet.com/s/nmos/conferenceregistration_199_1_1_1_1/22B9910A06

To sign up for optional guided FIELD TRIPS (limited space available!), please visit:
https://www.memberplanet.com/s/nmos/conferenceregistration_232/68515BCBF1?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAacv7dh_ByIXwXYmzHw1zXueh-BaWJGP_QMmY7K1sHMDoTMewVejfss04VzHYA_aem_zKdAU7_e90Ak5_N2-sdz8w

(Photo: Montezuma Quail by Owen Sinkus)

This recent state-first Tufted Flycatcher, found by Dana Parsons in Las Cruces, Doña Ana County, brings the New Mexico state list to 558!! PHOTO: Dylan Osterhaus.

Save the date! Our 2025 Annual Meeting will take place on Saturday, May 17th, in Silver City, New Mexico. The meeting will be followed by local field trips around the Gila National Forest on Sunday, May 18th.

This beautiful Southern New Mexico mountain range is home to sought-after Southwestern species, such as Painted Redstart (pictured), Red-faced Warbler, Olive Warbler, Montezuma Quail, and Common Black Hawk.

Registration information and more details coming soon!

If you haven't heard, the new edition is out! It will be available to order when registering for our upcoming NMOS Annual Meeting this spring. Stay tuned for your chance to order at a discounted price!

New Mexico Ornithological Society - New Mexico Bird Finding Guide by William H. Howe, Editor , published by Outskirts Press This 4th Edition of the New Mexico Bird Finding Guide (Guide) provides an expanded and detailed overview of the best birding locations within each of the state’s 33 counties, as well as an updated Annotated Checklist of Birds briefly describing the status and distribution of all birds that have be...

Well the New Mexico state list didn’t sit at 550 for long. The Blue Mockingbird at Rattlesnake Springs found by Bob Nieman in November was recently accepted by the NMBRC and brings the state list to 551. As of today (1/28/22) the bird is still being seen. 📷 by Bob Walker

The Yellow-footed Gull found by our VP Matt Baumann this past September was recently accepted by the NMBRC. This brings the official state list to 550 under current taxonomy. 📷 of the gull on 11 Oct by Nancy Hetrick

The NMOS fundraising trip to Belize just came back--what an epic adventure! 270 species seen in total, highlights to come!

Still 4 places left on our upcoming fundraising trip to Belize! Get your spot now!!

Southern Belize: Pristine & Wild, October 23 – November 1, 2021

Belize is only a 2- to 3-hour flight from the U.S. It has superb tourism infrastructure and is very diverse in resident and migrant birds—the perfect place for an introduction to tropical birding. This 10-day/9-night trip will visit sites in central and southern Belize including Black Rock Lodge, Macal River, Pook’s Hill Lodge, Hopkins, Cockscomb Basin, Nim Li Punit Maya Classic Period site, and The Lodge at Big Falls; we anticipate seeing 250-300 species of birds. Trip logistics will be handled by Arizona-based Naturalist Journeys. The tour starts and ends in Belize City, Belize, and is limited to 12 people. Cost: $3,490 per person, double occupancy, or $3,950 per person, single occupancy, plus airfare to/from Belize City and personal expenses (including a covid test to return to the U.S.). Sign up for the trip with Naturalist Journeys at https://www.naturalistjourneys.com/book-your-trip.

Book Your Trip! | Naturalist Journeys If you’re ready to book a trip with Naturalist Journeys, please complete the short form below. Be sure to include the tour name and dates, number of travelers, and number of rooms you require. We’ll review your request and, if there is space available, will send you an email with a custom link t...

Join us for a virtual annual meeting of the New Mexico Ornithological Society this coming Friday and Saturday, March 26-27, 2021! It will be held over two days from 1-4:30 pm each day via Zoom. There will be a zoom link for each day – please RSVP to Matt Baumann at [email protected] if you plan to attend and he will send you the zoom links.

There is no registration fee – we suggest a donation of at least $5 to the NMOS Scholarship Fund to encourage up and coming ornithologists studying birds in our state. Donations can now be made on our website via Paypal. Check out the agenda on the website for times and speakers. We have a range of interesting topics- from examining Peregrine Falcon populations in NM, to a workshop on how to become a better contributor to science and eBird through documentation. Hope you can join us!

Annual Meeting – New Mexico Ornithological Society (NMOS) The New Mexico Ornithological Society holds an annual meeting each spring. The meeting is held every even-numbered year in Albuquerque and every odd-numbered year in another location around the state. The meetings include a short members’ business meeting, an open Board meeting, a paper session, a...