Events
Energy Management in Migrating Hummingbirds
Find out how these tiniest of critters withstand long migrations!
Field Trip: River Ranch Bird Outing
Explore this rich birding site along the Mimbres River
Give Grandly
An opportunity to contribute to the causes and organizations that matter to you - - including us!
New Mexico Ornithological Society Annual Meeting
NMOS Annual Meeting to be held in Silver City!
Joint Potluck Picnic with Gila Native Plant Society
A chance to get together to talk about the birds and bees… and trees and plants…
Silver City Watershed Keepers: City Nature Challenge
Get ready for a Silver City BioBlitz!
Program: Woodpeckers of the Gila Region
Learn about local woodpecker species, in person or via Zoom
Bird Alliance Board Meeting
The Bird Alliance of SWNM invites members to our Board of Directors meetings. We meet every other month, on the first Monday of the month, at 5 PM. If you are interested in attending board meetings, please email us at birdallianceswnm@gmail.com. We will add you to the list to receive the agenda and location a few days in advance of the meeting.
Cliff Dwellings: Bird Outing and Trail Work
Join us for an overnight adventure! Or pick and choose how you’d like to participate!
Bird Alliance Board Meeting
The Bird Alliance of SWNM invites members to our Board of Directors meetings. We meet every other month, on the first Monday of the month, at 5 PM. If you are interested in attending board meetings, please email swnmaudubon@gmail.org. We will add you to the list to receive the agenda and location a few days in advance of the meeting.
Victorian Christmas
Stop by our table at the annual Victorian Christmas event for a Jackie Blurton-designed coloring sheet and to spin the Bird Wheel of Fortune!
Highlights from Past Events
Photo: Megan Ruehmann
April 12, 2025
Little Cherry Creek Outing
Devyn Scott led a group to look for woodpeckers (and everyone else!) along Little Cherry Creek Trail and Road. What a great weekend of learning and exploring! The highlight for the group was getting to see a pair of Olive Warblers up close.
List of species seen: https://ebird.org/checklist/S225291476
Photo: Heidi Erstad
April 19, 2025
Continental Trail Days
Brrrrrrrrr!!!! T’was a chilly and blustery day in Silver City!!
But that didn’t stop 60+ people from stopping by our booth to spin our amazing Wheel of Bird Fortune!
Photo: Linda Moore
April 11, 2025
Woodpecker Program
Did you know that woodpecker tongues are so long they coil inside the skull, wrapping around the back and attach near their nasal passages?! We packed the classroom and learned this and many more fascinating details at our Apr 11th program on "Woodpeckers of the Gila", presented by Bill Norris and WNMU students Devyn Scott and Madison Vasquez.
Click here for the recording of the presentation on our YouTube channel.
Photo: Megan Ruehmann
April 5, 2025
Gila Cliff Dwellings Outing
Its a fantastic time to visit the Gila Cliff Dwellings! Despite the overnight lows squashing plans for camping, a couple of us joined Ranger Jonah for a beautiful morning exploring the area. We admired a couple recent spring arrivals such as Black-throated Gray Warbler and Painted Redstart, checked out a beaver pond along the West Fork, and also hiked the Cliff Dwellings loop to learn about the cultural history of this special place. The tables under the cottonwoods made for a perfect spot for enjoying a picnic together afterwards. Thank you for having us, Jonah!
See our list of birds!
Photo: Heidi Erstad
Feb 8, 2025
Outing to the Gila River Area
Seven Bird Alliance members (several with quite large camera lenses!) spent the morning observing and photographing birds at a few spots along the Gila River. It started out as a chilly morning, but quickly warmed up to a bright and sunny day in the upper 60's. Thanks to Megan for setting up and leading the outing and to Paul for all of his photography insights.
Check out the 31 species we observed on our eBird Trip Report.
Photo: Heidi Erstad
Feb 7, 2025
Program: Introduction to Bird Photography
Local photographer and Bird Alliance member Paul Granone provided an overview of why the 18 birders in attendance may want to use photography as a tool and how to get started.
He also presented affordable and current equipment options, essential photography concepts, and tips on how to get good bird photos. Thanks Paul for sharing your expertise!
Photo: Heidi Erstad
Dec 21 & 28, 2025
Area Christmas Bird Counts
Teams of local birders - - new and experienced, young and old - - were out and about in the Silver City and Gila River areas conducting bird counts for Audubon’s annual Christmas Bird Count. Visit our Community Science page to read more about this tradition that benefits science and makes for an enjoyable winter day in the field!
Photo: Linda Moore
Dec 14, 2024
Victorian Christmas
On a beautiful Saturday in December, we greeted Silver City Museum visitors to their Victorian Christmas with a spin of our colorful ‘What Bird Are You?’ wheel. Activity sheets for kids of all ages were distributed, with an area for coloring them provided. It was fun for all who attended!
Photo: Megan Ruehmann
Nov 9, 2024
Lake Roberts Bird Outing
Devyn Scott led the group of 10 WNMU students, a couple visitors, a Silver City Daily Press reporter, and a handful of Bird Alliance members. Besides our Kid's Bird Walk a couple years ago, this was the youngest and most beginner group we've seen, which is precisely what we've been trying to achieve with Programs/Events. We heard several exclamations when folks looked through the scope at a bald eagle, osprey, and western grebe to name a few, and we’re sure these will go down as memorable first sightings. Thank you, Devyn, for encouraging your peers to join us for enjoying birds and being in nature!
Check out the eBird count here and read about the outing in the Silver City Daily Press.
Photo: Megan Ruehmann
Nov 2, 2024
River Ranch Bird Outing
Susan Mittelstadt, Bill Norris, Karen Beckenbach, and Megan Ruehmann guided 15 birders on the beautiful River Ranch property along the Mimbres River. Though it was a pretty quiet birding day, it’s always great to be out and about and birding in the Fall! Check out the eBird list from this outing here.
Nov 1, 2024
Raptor ID Program
Bill Norris, Karen Beckenbach, and Megan Ruehmann helped 35 beginning and intermediate birders learn characteristics of the raptors in the area. Many attendees found these pointers useful for the upcoming Winter Raptor Survey in mid-January.
Photo: Emily Pollom
Oct 12, 2024
The Big Sit @ Iron Bridge
There was just the slightest fall nip to the air when we arrived at Iron Bridge for The Big Sit 2024. What’s The Big Sit, you ask? It’s a unique opportunity for birders of all ages, skill levels and abilities to bird together, in one 17-foot diameter circle, documenting all the birds you can see and hear. And on Sunday, October 13, for four hours, 11 area birders gathered to document 36 species along the Gila River.
We worked on our sparrow identification skills with White-crowned, Song, Chipping and Lincoln’s Sparrow in attendance, enjoyed a few secretive shows by Common Yellowthroat, admired a flyover by three Sandhill Cranes, and witnessed the predator/prey relationship in action as a Great Blue Heron caught and devoured a large frog and a Belted Kingfisher snared a tiny fish. Some of us sat, while others darted from one side of the bridge to the other as people called out different species they'd spotted or requested some ID assistance.
The eBird list from our adventure will be combined with dozens of other lists around the US (and possibly a few international locales) by the New Haven Bird Club in Connecticut. You can check out the results from 2023 now and the 2024 results soon at www.thebigsit.org
Oct 11, 2024
Raptor ID Program
Heidi Erstad facilitated a workshop for 14 beginning and casual birders on using Merlin, a free smart phone app from Cornell. Slides from this workshop can be accessed here.
Sep 15, 2024
Pancho Canyon Pop-up Outing
Devyn Scott led birders on an outing at Pancho Canyon in the Gila Bird Area.