Chief of Interpretation for JTNP Joe Zarki organizes the park’s count, collects the data and forwards it to the national archive. He pronounced the results from this year’s census about average. Fifty species were seen on count day, which is within the normal range, and the total of 3,349 individual birds also fell within a normal range considering not only the weather on count day, but the recent snow and cold conditions in the park and Basin over the last few weeks.
Zarki praises the CBC as the “longest, on-going wildlife survey in the park.” As an illustration of how the count data has been of use to the park, he noted that mountain quail (Oreortyx pictus) haven’t appeared on the park’s CBC list since 1994. Although there have been some sightings reported by individuals on an intermittent basis during the intervening years, none have been seen on CBC day.
This gives Zarki some concern that the species may be in decline here, and if it is, the park, as a professional resource manager, wants to know why. Could it be climate change? Invasive species? The decline of a certain seed source the mountain quail depend on for food?
This is how trends in population dynamics can sometimes inspire research which might eventually lead to the discovery of an important ecological change in a local or even wider-range environment.
The survey covers a circle 15 miles in diameter and includes a portion of Twentynine Palms, as well as the Park. Therefore, numerous "yard birds" dominate the count, including the rock dove pigeon, the mourning dove, the starling, and a new-comer, the Eurasian collared dove.
Mark Wheeler is also a boardmember of MBCA.
MORE INFO ON THIS TOPIC: On the Wildlife page of the MBCA Website. Previous blog posts: Wildlife.
