By Jonathan Vargas
This article was translated by Amairani Márquez and Manuel Eduardo Mendoza
The monitoring was carried out from December 10 to December 12, 2018, as part of the project “Bi-national Monitoring of Wintering Long-billed Curlew in Mexicali Valley and northern Gulf of California, Mexico”.
On Monday, December 10, we went to San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora, very early to monitor long-billed curlew (Numenius americanus), a species considered of interest for conservation. In this place we would meet the rest of the team. It was a five hour trip, so, once we got together, we didn’t waste time and we went in search of curlews to the fields where recent observations had already been made.
Thanks to the experience of the group of monitors of Pronatura Noroeste led by Juan Butrón and El Catán, we were able to cover a large area in the three working days. The trip was very educational; we learned about the dynamics of habit use and crop preferences, as well as the associations they make with other species in these sites. In addition, we were able to document a great diversity and a large number of birds of prey within the study area.
The information gathered in this project will help estimate the wintering population of curlews in the Mexicali Valley, and will establish the baseline for conservation actions. With this project, we will seek to create agreements with farmers and landowners to promote recommendations for best practices and proper management of crops that benefit the conservation of this priority species.
We successfully completed the first journey to monitor N. americanus in the Mexicali Valley. In this journey eight people participated and had the intention of getting familiar with the area and knowing the dynamics of the curlews in the fields, as well as seeking the necessary information to adjust and test the sampling methods in the field.
The objectives of the monitoring were:
- Identify the wintering sites of long-billed curlew (Numenius americanus) in the Mexicali Valley and northern Gulf of California with the use of satellite transmitters by tracking the migratory movements, locations and movement patterns of individuals during the winter season.
- Increase lines of communication and public participation regarding our conservation and research initiatives within the scientific community, landowners, bird watchers, surrounding communities and users of natural resources.
CICESE, Terra Peninsular, Intermountain Bird Observatory, Boise State University, Pronatura Noroeste and Sonoran Joint Venture, who financed this monitoring, participated in this project.
