Southwestern Guesthouses on 260 Acres
near Silver City, New Mexico
overlooking Bear Creek and the Gila Wilderness

Birds Seen or Heard Along Bear Creek
at Casitas de Gila Guesthouses …

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, including the infamous Roadrunner. Ranging from desert to deciduous riparian, more than 280 bird species have been recorded by biologists in our part of New Mexico, 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 designated wilderness area 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 area along Bear Creek and the Gila River 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 Piñon/Juniper or Oak/Juniper/Piñon woodland found on drier sites throughout the Gila Forest. 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.

Our nearby neighbor, the Gila Riparian Preserve, protects 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 Along Bear Creek Include:

The photographs above are taken from
"Watchable Birds of the Southwest",
by Mary Taylor Gray, and are used with her permission and the permission of
Mountain Press Publishing Company, Missoula, Montana.

"Watchable Birds of the Southwest" is copyright 1995 by Mary Taylor Gray.
Each photograph above is copyright 1995 by Mary Taylor Gray.
For information on purchasing this book, please visit the Mountain Press website.

Also Visit:

The Nature Conservancy's Gila River Riparian Preserve
Southwestern New Mexico Audubon Society