An Avian Survey Conducted At Five Water Sources Within The Northern Chihuahuan Desert On Indio Mountains Research Station, Texas

The objective of this study was to conduct an avian survey of five water sources (four ephemeral former cattle tanks and one perennial spring), determine how many species inhabit or use Indio Mountains Research Station, and show a hierarchal similarity between the survey sites. This survey was conducted in a Chihuahuan Desert scrub landscape on Indio Mountains Research Station (IMRS) in Hudspeth County, Texas. There have been no previous formal studies of the avifauna at IMRS. All species accounts or sightings have been from casual sightings. Eighty-five avian species were recorded during this project bringing the total of avian species observed on IMRS to 141 species. Rattlesnake Tank recorded the highest number of species with 60 and Squaw Spring the low with 47. Rattlesnake Tank and Mesquite Tank were the highest in similarity sharing 87% of their species. Squaw Spring was hypothesized to have had the highest number of species and be the outlier in similarity. This was rejected as it was grouped with Pirtle Tank in similarity and had the lowest number of species observed