BIRDING OPPORTUNITIES
at the Gila Working Ranch, New Mexico
and surrounding  Gila National Forest Region

Join us for a birding experience your senses will not soon forget. Spend a weekend or a week in comfortable, private guesthouses or Casitas which are filled with western and southwestern artifacts. Our facilities can accommodate singles, couples or small groups. Ranch access to secluded, isolated locales is extremely limited, but can be attained by riding gentle, seasoned ranch horses, by hiking, by four-wheel drive vehicle, or by a combination. Experienced, knowledgeable guides who are familiar with the ranch and the surrounding Gila National Forest will help you explore a paradise rich in natural flora and spectacular bird fauna.

Southwestern New Mexico is truly a birder's paradise. The tremendous variety of habitat types and the geographic proximity to Old Mexico provide for a phenomenal diversity of avian species. Ranging from desert to deciduous riparian, more than 280 bird species have been recorded by biologists at the ranch, including the spectacular Hooded Merganser, the Northern Goshawk, the beautiful Peregrine Falcon, the White Throated Sparrow, and the Phainopepla.

The Gila National Forest, comprising 3.3 million acres, is one of the more remote, pristine and least developed National Forests in the Southwest. The Forest is probably best known for its wilderness areas, in particular the Gila Wilderness — the first wilderness in the United States. The magnificent mountain scenery, cool summer temperatures and relatively warm winters provide a unique combination of both plants and animals which share this diverse ecosystem, where the Rocky Mountains extend into the Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts.

Adjoining the Gila National Forest, the ranch also provides a private refuge for nearly one-third of all bird species in North America, many of which have been sighted in the area, including the Gila Woodpecker. Vegetation types range from Ponderosa pine at the mid elevation of 6,000 to 7,000 feet, to Pinon/Juniper or Oak/Juniper/Pinon woodland found on drier sites throughout the Gila Forest and the Ranch. This extreme range in elevation and the many corresponding vegetation types provide for a diverse bird fauna. Included are 170 bird species known to breed in the immediate area, 110 species known to occur at some time of the year, and 38 species considered to be casual or accidental.

The ranch and its nearby neighbor, the Gila Riparian Preserve, protect a prime example of the Southwest's fragile riparian habitat and a verdant gallery woodland, near the Gila River, the last of the Southwest's major free-flowing rivers. Naturally provided and protected is one of the most diverse broadleaf deciduous woodland areas in New Mexico.
 

Birds seen or heard during 1999 include: