New Mexico
Migratory birds are moving through New Mexico. Here’s what you can do to help them thrive.
Birds of different sizes, colors and species flock through New Mexico as they migrate for the season. New Mexicans may catch a glimpse of some in their backyard without being aware of the impact these feathered aviators have on our ecosystem, and in turn, our impact on their ability to survive and thrive.
Migrating birds can travel for up to six months, from spring through fall. During this time, they nest, eat and rest in New Mexico’s wildlands, rural and urban cities and riparian areas.
Bird conservationist and Ph.D. candidate for New Mexico State University Dylan Osterhaus said people often fail to appreciate their impact on a bird’s ability to successfully migrate. For example, birds that migrate at night find light pollution challenging, Osterhaus said.
“80% of our migratory birds here in North America are actually migrating at night,” he said. “A large impact that humans actually have on birds during migration is with the light that we produce at night; so being conscientious about the light that we produce at night or the building you work in ― it’s making sure we need it and it’s useful and keep our night lighting to a minimum.”
Light can disturb a migration pattern, imperiling migratory birds that are attracted to any luminescent to feed on insects.
“Any sort of wasted energy can be detrimental to them. Any time they spend time around these lighted infrastructures they can collide with these buildings that they don’t normally have in their environment,” he said.
“It’s important to know how our activities are impacting our environment as well.”
Light pollution in New Mexico: Check out this light pollution map.
Bird watching in New Mexico
Bird watchers prioritize wildlife protection, specifically birds, and educate the public through their camera lenses and binoculars. Among them, is the Mesilla Valley Audubon Society, a nonprofit organization that “aims to promote the appreciation and conservation of birds and other wildlife.”
The bird enthusiasts who are members of the Mesilla Valley Audubon Society gather at least once a month, sometimes more, to snap photos of birds in their temporary habitats. The group will next meet May 11 at Ice Canyon in Dripping Springs in Las Cruces to celebrate World Migratory Bird Day.
“Mesilla Valley Audubon Society hosts at least four bird walks each month, a monthly program on Zoom and in person, a nature journaling club, birding field trips and other activities,” Cheryl Fallstead, Mesilla Valley Audubon Society president said.
Osterhaus is also a member of the Mesilla Valley Audubon Society, and teaches on many of the bird walks and field trips.
He said bird watching is one of the largest hobbies in the United States, but over time the bird population has declined, causing difficulties for both birds and people.
“Birds play a really important role in controlling insect populations, so when they pass and living here, they play an important role. We also think about pollination benefits that birds have like hummingbirds that pollenate flowers as they go,” Osterhaus said.
“In general, bird populations are not doing well, they are experiencing these widespread declines in numbers and the areas they inhabit. Of course, with that large loss to birds we lose out on important ecosystem benefits they provide to us.”
A report by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) published in 2019 pointed to a decline ― an estimated 2.9 billion ― in the number of breeding migratory birds in 529 species since 1970 across North American regions. The report points to long-term changes in “nocturnal migratory passage” between 2007 and 2017 in songbird populations across the Eastern U.S.
New Mexico considers revision of its migratory bird hunting rules
As work is being done to conserve the remaining bird populations, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish proposed revisions to the The Migratory Game Bird Rule (19.31.6 NMAC), the statue that defines which migratory birds can be hunted in the state.
The proposal included changes to the regular hunting season dates, and an increase in the number of sandhill crane permits but a decrease in permits for certain other species. According to a summary of proposed changes, population survey data was considered in increasing permits for sandhill crane, while bag limits for Central Flyway Scaup and northern pintail would decrease, inline with recommendations by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The Department of Game and Fish scheduled a public meeting on the proposal for 6:30 p.m. April 18 at 7816 Alamo Road in Albuquerque.
Changes to the rules governing hunting of fowl are not unusual, according to the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish website, pointing to a 2023 change to the hunting season by six days – starting six days later, but also lasted six days longer.
“The Department revises rules for hunting game every four years and migratory game birds (waterfowl) each year. Involving hunters and other wildlife enthusiasts is invaluable during the review to ensure that their perspectives help influence hunting seasons and license numbers for the next four years,” read the N.M. Department of Game and Fish website.
Bird flu ‘ruffles feathers’ of cattle in Texas, Kansas, and New Mexico
Migratory birds can have an outsized impact on the human world as well. In March, it was reported by the United States Department of Agriculture that H5N1 had been contracted by dairy cattle in Kansas, Texas, Michigan and New Mexico. The source of what is commonly called bird flu was migratory birds, according to a USDA news release.
Read more on migratory birds and the bird flu found in dairy cattle: USDA: Bird flu detected in dairy cattle in New Mexico, Texas and Kansas.
Farmers in Texas reported the infection of chicken populations, according to the USDA, with animals in several flocks being found dead. A few weeks later, a human case of bird flu was also reported in Texas, detected in a person who had close contact with the infected cattle.
Juan Corral can be reached at JCorral@gannett.com or on twitter at @Juan36Corr.
The governor sets the agenda for the session, including for the budget, so here is what they are looking at so far.
SANTA FE, N.M. — As the regular session of the New Mexico Legislature is set to begin Jan. 20, lawmakers have already filed dozens of bills.
Bills include prohibiting book bans at public libraries and protections against AI, specifically the distribution of sensitive and “Deepfake” images
Juvenile justice reform is, again, a hot topic. House Bill 25 would allow access to someone’s juvenile records during a background check if they’re trying to buy a gun.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham sets the agenda and puts forth the proposed budget lawmakers will address during the session. The governor is calling for lawmakers to take up an $11.3 billion budget for the 2027 fiscal year, which is up 4.6% from current spending levels.
Where would that money go? More than $600 million would go to universal free child care. Meanwhile, more than $200 million would go to health care and to protect against federal funding cuts.
There is also $65 million for statewide affordable housing initiatives and $19 million for public safety.
After years of failure to land a “big fish” business for New Mexico’s economy (or effectively use the oil and gas revenues to grow the economy) Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham with the help of her Economic Development Secretary Rob Black have lured no fewer than three large data centers to New Mexico. These data centers are being built to serve the booming world of Artificial Intelligence (AI), and they will have profound impacts on New Mexico.
It is our view that having these data centers locate in New Mexico is better than having them locate elsewhere. While we have many differences of opinion with this governor, we are pleased to see her get serious about growing and diversifying New Mexico’s oil-dependent economy albeit quite late in her second term.
Sadly, the governor and legislature have chosen not to use broad based economic reforms like deregulation or tax cuts to improve New Mexico’s competitiveness. But, with the failure of her “preferred” economic development “wins” like Maxeon and Ebon solar both of which the governor announced a few years ago, but haven’t panned out, the focus on a more realistic strategy is welcome and long overdue.
Currently, three new data centers are slated to be built in New Mexico:
- Oracle’s Project Jupiter in Santa Teresa with an investment of $165 billion.
- Project Zenith slated to be built in Roswell amounts to a $11.7 billion investment.
- New Era Energy & Digital, Inc. While the overall investment is unclear, the energy requirement is the largest of the three at 7 gigawatts (that’s seven times the power used by the City of San Francisco).
What is a data center? Basically, they are the real-world computing infrastructure that makes up the Internet. The rise of AI requires vast new computing power. It is critical that these facilities have uninterrupted electricity.
That electricity is going to be largely generated by traditional sources like natural gas and possibly nuclear. That contravenes New Mexico’s Energy Transition Act of 2019 which was adopted by this Gov. and many of the legislators still in office. Under the Act electrical power emissions are supposed to be eliminated in a few years.
With the amount of money being invested in these facilities and the simple fact that wind and solar and other “renewable” energy sources aren’t going to get the job done. In 2025 the Legislature passed and MLG signed HB 93 which allows for the creation of “microgrids” that won’t tax the grid and make our electricity more expensive, but the ETA will have to be amended or ignored to provide enough electricity for these data centers. There’s no other option.
New Mexicans have every right to wonder why powerful friends of the governor can set up their own natural gas microgrids while the rest of us face rising costs and decreased reliability from so-called “renewables.” Don’t get me wrong, having these data centers come to New Mexico is an economic boon.
But it comes tempered with massive subsidies including a 30-year property tax exemption and up to $165 billion in industrial revenue bonds. New Mexico is ideally suited as a destination for these data centers with its favorable climate and lack of natural disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods. We shouldn’t be giving away such massive subsidies.
Welcoming the data center boom to New Mexico better than rejecting them and pushing them to locate in other states. There is no way to avoid CO2 emissions whether they happen here or somewhere else. But, there are questions about both the electricity demand and subsidies that must be addressed as New Mexico’s data center boom begins.
What will the Legislature, radical environmental groups, and future governors of our state do to hinder (or help) bring these data centers to our State? That is an open question that depends heavily on upcoming statewide elections. It is important that New Mexicans understand and appreciate these complicated issues.
Paul Gessing is president of New Mexico’s Rio Grande Foundation. The Rio Grande Foundation is an independent, nonpartisan, tax-exempt research and educational organization dedicated to promoting prosperity for New Mexico based on principles of limited government, economic freedom and individual responsibility
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