White Sands

White Sands National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior White Sands National Monument Featured Birds of White Sands W hite Sands National Monument is home to a wide variety of bird species. Some birds make White Sands their home all year, while other species are migratory. One key factor that influences the types of migratory birds in the area is rainfall and the amount of standing water. Keep in mind that the dunes provide unique homes to only some of our bird species. Many of the birds listed here prefer the Chihuahuan Desert shrub on the outer edges of the monument boundaries. Others migrate here when there is a lot of standing water in places such as Lake Lucero. Whether you are an experienced birder or just taking that extra step to familiarize yourself with our flying friends, this list will provide you with a general overview of the birds in and around the world’s largest gypsum dunefield. American Avocet Recurvirostra americana American Coot Black-throated Sparrow Crissal Thrasher Brewer’s Blackbird Dark-eyed Junco Amphispiza bilineata Toxostoma crissale Fulica americana Euphagus cyanocephalus American Kestrel Eared Grebe Falco sparverius Broad-tailed Hummingbird American Robin Cactus Wren Gambel’s Quail Selasphorus platycercus Junco hyemalis Podiceps nigricollis Turdus migratorius Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus Ash-throated Flycatcher Chihuahuan Raven Barn Swallow Common Merganser Great Egret Hirundo rustica Mergus merganser Ardea alba Black-necked Stilt Cooper’s Hawk Great Horned Owl Accipiter cooperii Bubo virginianus Corvus cryptoleucus Myiarchus cinerascens Himantopus mexicanus Callipepla gambelii Great Blue Heron Ardea herodias Great-tailed Grackle Mallard Snowy Plover Greater Roadrunner Mourning Dove Solitary Sandpiper Zenaida macroura Tringa solitaria Northern Flicker Spotted Towhee Colaptes auratus Pipilo maculatus Northern Harrier Swainson’s Hawk Circus cyaneus Buteo swainsoni Northern Mockingbird Turkey Vulture House Sparrow Northern Oriole Western Kingbird Passer domesticus Icterus galbula Tyrannus verticalis Killdeer Northern Shoveler Western Meadowlark Anas clypeata Sturnella neglecta Ladder-backed Woodpecker Pyrrhuloxia White-crowned Sparrow Lesser Nighthawk Red-tailed Hawk Quiscalus mexicanus Anas platyrhynchos Geococcyx californianus Greater Yellowlegs Tringa melanoleuca Horned Lark © Noll Eremophila alpestris Charadrius nivosus House Finch Haemorhous mexicanus Charadrius vociferus Mimus polyglottos Cardinalis sinuatus Picoides scalaris Chordeiles acutipennis Loggerhead Shrike Cathartes aura Zonotrichia leucophrys Buteo jamaicensis White-winged Dove Zenaida asiatica Sandhill Crane Wilson’s Warbler Grus canadensis Cardellina pusilla Say’s Phoebe Sayornis saya Yellow-headed Blackbird Long-eared Owl Scott’s Oriole Yellow Warbler Asio otus Icterus parisorum Lanius ludovicianus Long-billed Curlew Numenius americanus Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus Setophaga petechia Note: This is not a comprehensive bird list. For more information on White Sands National Monument, visit www.nps.gov/whsa Revised 2/1/16