There are plenty of good reasons to protect a place like the Appleton-Whittell Research Ranch (AWRR), but if you ask Arizona’s Important Bird Area (IBA) program, there are three.  

First - habitat, specifically the semidesert and oak-savannah grasslands that sprawl across the ranch. Sadly, Arizona grasslands are second only to riparian woodlands in terms of the rate and extent to which they have been altered, degraded, and destroyed.  

Second - the suite of grassland birds that call this rapidly vanishing habitat type home – Chihuahuan Meadowlark; Scaled and Montezuma Quail; and Cassin’s, Botteri’s, Grasshopper, Rufous-winged, and Rufous-crowned sparrows.  

Third - research and education. There are few if any field research stations or outdoor classrooms quite like the Appleton-Whittell Research Ranch. 

To make sure that these resources are faring well in our care, each August we head into the field to conduct grassland bird point counts, five-minute counts at points along pre-established routes through the Appleton-Whittell Research Ranch and the adjacent Babacomari Ranch at which we identify and count every bird we see or hear. This year, the 19th consecutive year of this count, I was joined for these counts by Tucson Audubon Executive Director, Melissa Fratello, and recently retired Audubon Southwest Director of Bird Conservation, Tice Supplee (a fitting last few days in the “office” for a powerhouse of bird conservation like herself).  

So, what are the numbers telling us? 

First and foremost, our priority birds are doing well, with long-term averages staying fairly steady since the beginning of the annual survey effort. Also of note is that, while density of priority birds tends to be slightly higher on the Appleton-Whittell Research Ranch compared to the Babacomari, we have found no statistically significant difference in species diversity on either side of the fence – a fact likely owed to the responsible grazing and emphasis on habitat conservation employed by the Babacomari Ranch. 

While numbers have stayed consistent over the long term, drastic differences can be seen year-to-year. This year, for example, was the year of the Cassin’s Sparrow. These sparrows arrived in full force on the Appleton-Whittell Research Ranch, likely in response to the ample rain we received this monsoon, delighting us with their skylarking displays and White-throated Sparrow-like song. There were so many Cassin’s Sparrows on the Appleton-Whittell Research Ranch this year that we struggled to hear the other birds at our survey points! 

These surveys continue to help us to keep track of the health of habitat and bird communities on the Appleton-Whittell Research Ranch, ensuring that we maintain the reasons for which the ranch was designated as an Important Bird Area, but many questions still remain. How will birds respond to the invasion of non-native grasses like Lehman Lovegrass and Yellow Bluestem over the long term? How will changes in precipitation quantity and timing affect our detection rates for individual species? Will we continue to see desert birds like Gambel’s Quail increase in abundance as climate change marches on, and how will this impact grassland specialists like Scaled Quail? There will always be more questions than answers, and we will continue to use data from these surveys to inform our conservation, education, and advocacy efforts. 

Summer birdsong on the Appleton-Whittell Research Ranch will soon fade, but it will quickly be replaced by the excitement of fall migration and the influx of wintering residents like Northern Harrier, Vesper Sparrow, Pine Siskin, and more. Until then, we’ll be hard at work putting their songs and calls to memory for our next annual survey effort – the Christmas Bird Count!