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The New Mexico Breeding Bird Atlas Project Atlas Handbook

Questions answerable with the first atlas project

• What areas or habitats of the state have the highest and lowest number of breeding species?

• How does the avifauna differ between southern and northern ponderosa pine forests? Are the same birds breeding in piņon-juniper habitat throughout the state or are there local differences?

• What are the habitat associations or requirements for all breeding species? What species have relatively specific habitat requirements?

• What are the ranges of dates that breeding occurs for common birds within New Mexico?

• How have the relative abundance and distributions of breeding birds changed? Specifically, have densities and distributions for riparian breeding birds and neotropical migrant birds changed or remained the same?

• Which species have declined or increased the most in distribution or relative abundance?

• What changes in abundance and distribution have occurred for birds breeding within protected lands such as wildlife refuges, wilderness areas, and national parks? Do these changes differ from changes to the state's avifauna overall?

• Are non-native birds increasing as a component of the state's avifauna?