These species do not breed in the Río Embudo area. They arrive in the fall, spend the winter and then leave in the spring.
The ducks, Bald Eagle and Goldfinch breed further north.
The others are mostly altitudinal migrants that breed in New Mexico, but higher up in the mountains.
| External Links in table below: | |
| (Remote sites open in a new window.) | |
| Cornell | Opens Cornell Lab of Ornithology's All About Birds site's species account in a new browser window. This site offers detailed information on every species including sound recordings. |
| USGS | Opens the USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter species account in a new browser window. Includes BBS and CBC maps, ID Tips and Taxonomy for each species. |
| Image Search | Shows the results of a Google image search for the species. |
| All Photographs by Robert Templeton unless otherwise noted. Copyright Information. | |
| English Name: Genus species: | Comments | Photos |
| Swans, Geese and Ducks | ||
| Common Goldeneye Bucephala clangula  Enlarge Map External Sites: Cornell USGS Image Search | Females (upper) have brown heads. Male (below) has dark head with distinctive white patch between the bill and the eye. Both have yellow eye. |  Enlarge  |
| Common Merganser Mergus merganser  Enlarge Map External Sites: Cornell USGS Image Search | Distinctive bill shape and color. Male has dark head. Female reddish-brown head. |   |
| Diurnal Raptors: Vultures, Eagles, Hawks and Falcons | ||
| Bald Eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus  Enlarge Map External Sites: Cornell USGS Image Search | Adult: Distinctive white head and tail. Juveniles have white in wings near body. Sometimes head brown and tail with brown band on trailing edge. |  |
| Thrushes and their Allies | ||
| Townsend’s Solitaire Myadestes townsendi  Enlarge Map External Sites: Cornell USGS Image Search | This bird is most often observed sitting in the tops of trees sounding a repeated, high, slow whistle. Gray all over with white on sides of tail. Fluttery in flight, with cream-colored bands running the length of each wing on the underside. |  |
| Sparrows and their Allies | ||
| White-crowned Sparrow Zonotrichia leucophrys  Enlarge Map External Sites: Cornell USGS Image Search | Adult (Upper Photo): Distinctive black and white stripes on head. Light colored bill. Clear breast and belly. Juvenile (Lower Photo): Head stripes brown and gray. |   |
| Dark-eyed Junco Junco hyemalis  Enlarge Map External Sites: Cornell USGS Image Search | In winter, there are 5 sub-species of Dark-eyed Junco in our area. Many have a full black or gray hood. All have a dark eye set in dark plumage. Almost always in flocks of 10-20 individuals. Identifiable by a very "dry" sounding "tck-tck" and by white showing on the sides of the tail, especially in flight. Do a an Image Search (at left) to get an idea of the great variation in the plumage of this species. |   |
| Finches and Old World Sparrows | ||
| American Goldfinch Carduelis tristis  Enlarge Map External Sites: Cornell USGS Image Search | Female (Upper Photo) Male (Lower Photo) |   |
