Exploring the Natural History of the Black Range Through Research, Collaboration, and Education

A Consortium of Collaboration Supporting Non-Institutional Science

The Black Range Exchange seeks to support the science of natural history performed in non-institutional settings or institutional efforts which are supported significantly by non-institutional practitioners.

Support from the Exchange is not financial, it is organizational.  The Exchange provides a platform within which research can happen by matching non-institutional practitioners with specific projects.  BREx will also serve as a conduit to disseminate research findings (either of methodology or project conclusions) as part of a larger educational effort.

The Black Range Exchange is about the process of science, at this site we delve into the making of scientific sausage - don't wait for the final, share the work as it progresses.

The Illustration of Birds

The works of art which are bird illustrations are both beautiful and informative.  Here we are developing a repository of the original works, the original works sans text (just the illustrations), books of illustrations from multiple sources, and a book of biographical sketches of the major artists.  Our material is limited to the period before 1930.

An Assessment of Bird Species Distribution & Abundance

This project utilizes data from Audubon's Christmas Bird Counts and from eBird observations.  This information was generated by citizen scientists from many regions but here we focus on the Black Range and the areas immediately adjacent to it.  

The project assessment includes the number of individuals of each species observed in the most recent Christmans Bird Counts in this area (Hillsboro, Caballo, Las Cruces, and Silver City). The count circle is orange if 1 to 10 individuals were seen and is aqua if more than 10 were seen.  The circle is left blank if the species was not seen on that count.  The data from previous CBC's is also shown in table and graph form.

In addition monthly distribution is shown for each species as is the range if the species as indicated by observations reported to eBird.  

Images are provided by R. A. Barnes unless otherwise attributed.

Projects in Progress

There are currently two projects using this platform.  (See below for details.)

This project is assessing bird species distribution using Christmas Bird Count data and sighting information from eBird.  These data bases are populated by citizen scientists in our area.

The illustrations of birds in various historical documents are both informative and works of art, sometimes strikingly beautiful.  This project is developing a repository of bird illustrations.  It is a work in progress, you can help by identifying additional source material, developing the illustration extracts of the source material, or by researching and/or writing sections on the various artists or artistic ventures.