Bird Notes from the Upper Rio Grande Valley
Bird Notes from the Upper Rio Grande Valley
In June, 1930, I had an opportunity to study the waterfowl of the Rio Grande Valley at Socorro, New Mexico. Later, after reference to “Birds of New Mexico” and correspondence with Mrs. Florence M. Bailey, it was thought advisable to publish records of the ducks seen. Breeding localities and summer records for ducks in the state are not numerous and breeding grounds are confined mainly to lakes in Rio Arriba County and areas of the lower Pecos Valley. The following notes may be of interest.
New Mexican Duck (Anas diazi novimexicana). This duck is restricted in range, being found only in the Rio Grande Valley of New Mexico from Albuquerque south to El Paso, Texas. Seven of these black ducks were seen on a pond near the city limits of Socorro on June 12, 1930.
Cinnamon Teal (Querquedula cyanoptera). Five seen in a slough along the Rio Grande on June 12. This species has been recorded from many localities in the state but is not particularly abundant anywhere.
Shoveller (Spatula clypeata). This duck nests at Lake Burford, Rio Arriba County, and in the Pecos Valley near Roswell. I found a male and female on the Rio Grande, June 11.
Lesser Scaup (Nyroca affinis). Considered by Mrs. Bailey as a migrant and rare winter resident in the state. These birds were found in May and June, 1918, at lakes of northern New Mexico by Dr. Wetmore, but no definite nesting records were given. Near Socorro on June 12, 1930, I discovered a pair of these ducks but was unable to find proof that they were nesting there.
Ruddy Duck (Erismatura jamaicensis rubida). According to “Birds of New Mexico” this duck nests commonly in lakes in the northern part of the state, in the Pecos Valley and on the Carlsbad Bird Reserve. I found, on June 12, a female with six young, only a few days old, in a slough near Socorro.
On August 5, 1931, I was in El Paso, Texas, and was able to spend some time studying a colony of Great-tailed Grackles (Megaquiscalus major macrourus) along the river at the south side of the city. Several of the birds observed were young of the season. I was interested to find that this bird is rare in New Mexico and western Texas. All records given for New Mexico are from the southern part of the state along the Mimbres and Pecos rivers and the Rio Grande. One breeding colony was found in 1925 near Carlsbad, and birds have been taken at Las Cruces and have bred at La Mesa, New Mexico, thirty miles north of El Paso.
James Stevenson
Los Angeles, California, December 21, 1931
