The Birds of the Black Range
Arranged by English Common Name - “A-B-C"

Yellow-headed Blackbird Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus
Hillsboro
New Mexico

Eastern Bluebird
Sialia sialis sialis
Hillsboro
New Mexico December 30, 2018
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Mountain Bluebird Sialia currucoides East Slope of the Black Range
New Mexico November and December
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Western Bluebird Sialia mexicana
Hillsboro
New Mexico
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Indigo Bunting
Passerina cyanea
Hillsboro, New Mexico
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Lark Bunting Calamospiza melanocorys
NM-27 at Nutt Grasslands South of Hillsboro
New Mexico

Lazuli Bunting Passerina amonena
Hillsboro
New Mexico
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Painted Bunting
Passerina ciris
Hillsboro
New Mexico

Bushtit
(American Bushtit)
Psaltriparus minimus plumbeus
Forest Trail 796, Black Range, New Mexico
December

This subspecies was first described by Baird in 1854 as Psaltria plumbea the Lead-colored Bushtit. The subspecies found in the Black Range of New Mexico is now referred to as the Plumbeous Bushtit. There are 10 recognized subspecies of Bushtit including some which have been considered full species in the past (Black-eared Bushtit, Psaltriparus melanotis). This species is generally found in flocks of quietly chattering birds. Like the Dark-eyed Junco groups, the various subspecies of Bushtit are often combined into groups: the minimus group of the Pacific coast, the plumbeus group of the Rocky Mountain interior, and the melanotis group found in the southern part of the range. The clinal variation in characteristics and “considerable genetic differentiation” found within the species promise to keep the speciation questions associated with this species open to argument.

Northern Cardinal
Cardinalis cardinalis
Hillsboro
New Mexico
November
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Gray Catbird
Dumetella carolinensis
Hillsboro
New Mexico
November &
December

Yellow-breasted Chat
Icteria virens
Hillsboro
New Mexico
July
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Mountain Chickadee
Poecile g. gambeli
Sawyer Peak Trail
and Hillsboro
New Mexico
December
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Differences in the Mountain Chickadee subspecies can be difficult to distinguish. The length of the bill being a distinguishing characteristic.

Eurasian Collared-Dove
Streptopelia decaocto
Hillsboro
New Mexico
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View Video of nesting series starting at this link.

American Coot
Fulica americana
Wall Lake
North Star Road
Black Range
New Mexico

Bronzed Cowbird
Molothrus aeneus
Hillsboro
New Mexico
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Brown-headed Cowbird
Molothrus ater
Hillsboro
New Mexico

Brown Creeper
Certhia americana
Hillsboro
New Mexico
and Sawyer Peak Trail
January