In 2024, the board of Western Field Ornithologists decided to support travel awards for ornithologists from Mexico to attend the group’s annual conference in San Diego. There were many good business reasons for the organization to do this—attract new members, promote research on shared species, etc.—but the most basic reason was obvious: to connect one another through birds. Whether these connections are physical, cultural, or ecological, it’s clear that the importance of science and conservation do not differ depending on which side of an international border one finds oneself.  

This program supported the travel, lodging, and full conference participation of five Mexican ornithologists, all of whom delivered presentations on their work at the conference. Some spoke in Spanish, translated in real-time to the audience, while others delivered their presentations in English, and regardless of the language or topic, the enthusiasm and rigor of the scholars was clear.  

We learned about nesting Golden Eagles in Baja California, habitat associations of Bendire’s Thrashers in Sonora, and the ecology of Least Terns near Ensenada, to mention just a few of the topics covered during the presentations by the Mexican attendees.  

In addition to our group learning from these scholars, we were very happy to provide an atmosphere where the scholars could make new professional connections and enjoy the support of our enthusiastic group.  

The program was such an obvious success that we have carried it forward, and are excited to again provide this opportunity for researchers from Mexico to attend this year’s conference in Yakima. We are again supporting the travel and participation of five travel award winners from Mexico and look forward to broadening our horizons through our shared love of birds.  

In 2025, the following scholars will be joining us from Mexico: 

Sheccid Chagoya Tadeo – Influence of environmental variability on the abundance and distribution of Snowy Plovers in Baja California, Mexico 

Jose Gutierrez – Common birds of Ramsar site Wetlands of Laguna La Cruz, Gulf of California, a science outreach project 

Oscar Enrique Lopez Bujanda – The Montezuma Quail: then and now 

Evelyn Nathali Quintero Alvarez – Extreme winter events and their influence on shorebirds in the Mexican Pacific 

Liliana Ortiz Serrato– Genetic structure of the Least Tern Sternula antillarum in northwestern Mexico 

Please join us at this year’s science sessions in Yakima to learn more and engage with these visiting scholars! 

 

May 2025 | Dan Ruthrauff, Board Member