Where do you work and what is your role?
I work for the Arizona Game and Fish Department and coordinate the Arizona Bird Conservation Initiative (ABCI). I have been coordinating that initiative for 21 years, and I have many roles at the state level, coordinating with government agencies and organizations interested in bird conservation and habitat management.
My work includes promoting bird monitoring within the state, promoting the use of tools that are useful for habitat management and for understanding and documenting populations. I also produce technical documents with species management recommendations and have responsibility for everything related to species that are on the federal list of species at risk.
Because this includes migratory birds, I am also responsible for coordinating conservation of species we share with other states and countries at the regional and international levels, mainly with Mexico and Central America. I do this through several mechanisms and partnerships, including Sonoran Joint Venture, Partners in Flight, Road to Recovery and the Pacific Flyway.
What did you study? We would love to learn about your academic path.
I studied Wildlife Ecology at Texas A&M University, and I also earned a master’s degree in Biological Sciences at the same university.
How did you become interested in bird conservation?
I think I have had an affinity for birds since I was a child because I am from El Salvador and from a rural area where life was centered around the countryside. There were many trees, including secondary forests and the trees surrounding cornfields and all that. From then on, I had an affinity for and attraction to birds because I am drawn to their colors. The more striking the color of the bird, the more I like it.In rural El Salvador at that time, the pastime for children, especially boys, was practicing with slingshots and killing birds. I was like, what a crazy thing! That never appealed to me. I think I also developed a certain empathy toward birds from seeing my cousins doing this. I think that is where my interest came from.
My first job after graduating with my undergraduate degree was a bird-monitoring position using mist nets. In Houston, we put up nets in urban parks and captured birds to take blood samples and test them for mosquito-borne diseases. That was my first job, and I think it also set me on this path with birds. When I decided to return to university for a master’s degree, I looked for something related to birds.
Which Species Working Groups are you involved in?
At the moment, I am involved with the Yellow-billed Cuckoo Working Group, Pinyon Jay Working Group, Desert Thrasher Working Group, Mountain Plover Working Group—to a lesser extent—and the Marshbird Network, mostly focused on the Yuma Ridgway’s Rail.
Those are the groups I am directly involved with. I also participate in the committees that lead the groups. I am not just a partner; I am involved in guiding the group and its work, except with the Mountain Plover Working Group, where I mostly keep up with it and am not very involved.
Tell us something interesting you have learned about the species you work with.
I think it was in 2022 when the petition was submitted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to add the Pinyon Jay to the federal list of species at risk. But before that came up, I knew practically nothing about Pinyon Jays. Over the last five years, I have learned a lot about the species. For example, during the caching season, the Pinyon Jay collects seeds and stores them in grasslands, behind a rock, at the base of a tree, and months later returns to find the food where it stored it.
I find that fascinating: that they had such a memory! And obviously they did not find all the seeds. Those seeds are maintaining the forest; new trees grow from them. So that is something that has fascinated me a lot. So, in a manner of speaking, over these last few years I have become an expert on Pinyon Jays.
You think you know a lot about a species’ ecology, but you really don’t. Especially with these satellite radios and movements, you learn so much and realize that what you used to imagine is not necessarily what is actually happening.
What gives you hope for the future of bird conservation?
I think what gives me hope is that we have enough information and generally understand what the threats to species and ecosystems are. What we are missing are the most effective mechanisms for implementing conservation actions, but I think we have the information and have been accumulating it.
Especially in the United States and Mexico, I see a great deal of interest among students entering universities and choosing careers. From what I have seen, there is a lot of interest in this field, and that also gives me hope. Even though I have been doing this for 20 years, others are coming along and learning from us and from how we work. That makes me think: well, we are going to pass the shovel to them so they can keep working.
I have especially seen how things have grown in Mexico. Whenever I go to meetings in Mexico and see all these young people, I think, ‘We are in good hands.’ The important thing is that they are willing to work.
Is there someone whose work has inspired you? Why?
Yes. In the group I have participated in and collaborated with since I started this work, Partners in Flight, I learned a lot about how they work, how they coordinate meetings, how to manage information, and everything related to bird conservation. I also learned how to work in groups and partnerships and how to recognize the roles of different institutions and government agencies.
In particular, I learned a lot from a biologist who is now retired named Carol Beardmore. At one point, she was the Partners in Flight coordinator for the western United States, and when I started this position, she was the science coordinator for Sonoran Joint Venture. I would consider her one of my mentors. She may not think of herself that way, but I learned a lot from watching her work and seeing how she did her job.
What is one lesson or message you would like to share with others in the R2R network?
I think it is very important to recognize what each partner contributes to the conservation efforts for each species. The nice thing is that each partner contributes something a little different, but everything adds up to a more efficient and productive effort, with the hope that it will produce results.
That is why I really like the Species Working Group model, because it is a voluntary effort based on each group’s capacity. They contribute their expertise, and it is not very structured. In the groups I work with, that also gives them flexibility and allows them to focus on one priority at a time. You cannot try to do everything, because it is not going to be possible.