Erin Duvuvuei, an avian biologist, recently conducted a survey of yellow-billed cuckoos in eleven western states. The yellow-billed cuckoo, native to the Americas, is under threat in its western Distinct Population Segment (DPS). In 2020, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service increased the bird’s critical habitat to over 500,000 acres in nine western states, including New Mexico. In 2022, Duvuvuei collaborated with ten western states to conduct range surveys for the species, creating a species distribution model for conservation and recovery efforts for the western DPS.
During her survey, Duvuvuei identified a threat to the cuckoos’ habitat: forest fires. While surveying sites along the Gila River, San Francisco River, and Rio Grande, she found a forest fire in a gallery cottonwood forest, or bosque. Duvuvuei reported the fire, and the Tyrone Fire crew, the United States Forest Service, and the New Mexico Forestry Division extinguished it. The fire was later confirmed to have been caused by a lightning strike.