GEGAGNGEIGB 0 06K of SPECIES ENDANGERED in GNGEGAV GNIGEGXGIC BY JOHN P. HUBBARD (INTRODUCTION AND BIRDS) MARSHALL C. CONWAY (MAMMALS) HOWARD CAMPBELL (REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS) GREGORY SCHMITT (REPTILES, AMPHIBIANS, AND FISHES) MICHAEL D. HATCH (FISHES AND INVERTEBRATES) New Mexico Dept. Game & Fish 1979 Price $5.00, to include cost of reproduction, handling, and postage. This document may be reproduced in whole or in part, as long as ap- propriate credit is given to the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish. Financial support for this publication was provided by the Federal Aid in Fish and Wildlife Restoration Acts under Project FW-17-R of the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish. The Acts are popularly known as the Pittman-Robertson and Dingle-Johnson, or P-R and D-J, Acts after Congressional sponsors. TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION MAMMALS Arizona shrew - State endangered (Group II) A-1 Southern yellow bat - State endangered (Group II) A-3 Western mastiff bat - State endangered (Group II) A- 3a White-sided jackrabbit - State endangered (Group I) A-4 (Tularosa) black-tailed prairie dog - State endangered (Group II) A-6 Southern pocket gopher - State endangered (Group II) A-8 Nelson's pocket mouse - State endangered (Group II) A-9 (Arizona) montane vole - State endangered (Group II) A-9a Gray wolf - Federal endangered/State endangered (Group I) A-10 Coatimundi - State endangered (Group II) A-11 Marten - State endangered (Group II) A-12 Black-footed ferret - Federal endangered/State endangered (Group I) A-13 Mink - State endangered (Group II) A-15 River otter - State endangered (Group I) A-16 Literature Cited A-20 BIRDS Olivaceous cormorant - State endangered (Group II) 8-1 Mississippi kite - State endangered (Group II) 6-5 Gray hawk - State endangered (Group I) B-9 Black hawk - State endangered (Group II) B-11 Bald eagle - Federal endangered/State endangered (Group II) B-13 Caracara - State endangered (Group I) B-17 Peregrine falcon - Federal endangered/State endangered (Group I) B-19 - Aplomado falcon - State endangered (Group I) 6 21 White-tailed ptarmigan - State endangered (Group I) B-23 Sharp-tailed grouse - State endangered (Group I) 6-25 Sage grouse - State endangered (Group I) 8-27 (Mexican) turkey - State endangered (Group II) B-29 Whooping crane - Federal endangered/State endangered (Group II) 8-31 (Interior) least tern .- State endangered (Group II) B-33 Buff-collared nightjar, or Ridgway's whip-poor-will - State endangered (Group II) B-35 Violet-crowned hummingbird - State endangered (Group II) B-39 White-eared hummingbird - State endangered (Group II) 6-40 Broad-billed hummingbird - State endangered (Group II) B-42 Coppery-tailed trogon - State endangered (Group I) B-44 Gila woodpecker - State endangered (Group II) 8-46 Red-headed woodpecker - State endangered (Group II) B-48 Thick-billed kingbird - State endangered (Group II) B-50 Sulphur-bellied flycatcher - State endangered (Group I) B-52 Buff-breasted flycatcher - State endangered (Group I) B-54 Beardless flycatcher - State endangered (Group II) 6-56 Bell's vireo - State endangered (Group II) 8-57 Varied bunting - State endangered (6roup II) B-59 Baird's sparrow - State endangered (Group II) B-61 Yellow-eyed junco - State endangered (Group II) B-63 McCown's longspur - State endangered (Group II) B-64 Literature Cited REPTILES (Texas) slider turtle - State endangered (Group II) C-1 (Western) spiny softshell turtle - State endangered (Group II) C-2 Smooth softshell turtle - State endangered (Group II) C-3 (Sanddune) sagebrush lizard - State endangered (Group II) C-4 Bunchgrass lizard - State endangered (Group II) C-5 Mountain skink - State endangered (Group II) C-6 Giant spotted whiptail lizard - State endangered (Group II) C-7 Dixon's whiptail lizard - State endangered (Group II) C-8a Gila monster - State endangered (Group I) C-9 i i (Blotched) plain-bellied water snake - State endangered (Group II) C-12 Narrow-headed garter snake - State endangered (Group II) C-13 (Pecos) western ribbon snake - State endangered (Group II) C-14 (Sonora) coachwhIp - State endangered (Group 11) C-16 Trans-Pecos 'rat snake - State endangered (Group 11) C-17 Sonora mountain kingsnake - State endangered (Group II) C-18 (Mottled) rock rattlesnake - State endangered (Group II) C-23 (Arizona black) western rattlesnake - State endangered (Group 11) C-26 (New Mexican) ridge-nosed rattlesnake - Federal threatened/ C-27 State endangered (Group I) AMPHIBIANS Jemez Mountains salamander - State endangered (Group II) D-1 Sacramento mountain salamander - State endangered (Group II) D-3 (Eastern) barking frog - State endangered (Group II) D-4 Colorado river toad - State endangered (Group II) D-5 Western (boreal) toad - State endangered (Group II) D-6 (Blanchard's) cricket frog - State endangered (Group 11) D-7 Literature Cited D-9 FISHES Blue sucker - State endangered (Group I) E-3 Gray redhorse - State endangered (Group I) E-5 Zuni mountain sucker - State endangered (Group II) E-7 Mexican tetra - State endangered (Group II) E-9 Roundtail chub,- - State endangered (Group II) E-15 Gila chub - State endangered (Group I) E-15 Chihuahua chub - State endangered (Group I) E-17 ("Canadian") speckled dace - State endangered (Group II) E-19 Spikedace - State endangered (Group 11) E-21 Arkansas river shiner - State endangered (Group I) E-23 Silverband shiner - State endangered (Group I) E-25 Bluntnose shiner - State endangered (Group I) E-27 Silvery minnow - State endangered (Group II) E-28a Suckermouth minnow - State endangered (Group II) E-29 Southern redbelly dace - State endangered (Group I) E-31 Colorado River squawfish - Federal endangered/State endangered (Group I) E-33 Loachminnow - State endangered (Group II) E-35 White Sands pupfish - State endangered (Group II) E-40 Brook stickleback - State endangered (Group II) E-44 Greenthroat darter - State endangered (Group II) E-46 Bigscale logperch - State endangered (Group II) E-48 Pecos gambusia - Federal endangered/State endangered (Group II) E-50 Gila topminnow - Federal endangered/State endangered (Group II) E-51 Gila trout - Federal endangered/State endangered (Group I) E-54 Literature Cited E-56 CRUSTACEAN Socorro isopod - State endangered (Group I) F-1 Literature Cited E-58 INTRODUCTION Mankind has become increasingly aware of the need for, and active in the pursuit of, the preservation of the Earth's biological diversity. Reasons for such pres- ervation range from the sentimental to the practical, e.g. from perpetuating the species with which man has evolved to ensuring ourselves future resources--including from sources that we may not now yet recognize. Whatever our reasons, such pres- ervation must now be pursued through systematic and applied efforts, for the i mapcts of those things that diminish diversity are too great to risk any lesser involvement. Among the ways of achieving preservation of biological diversity is the identifica- tion and management of those species or populations that are most in danger of being lost from the spectrum of living things. Toward this end have been enacted various international, national, state, and local programs to aid endangered species, includ- ing the very important Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wildlife Fauna and the U.S. Endangered Species Act as amended in 1978. In New Mexico, the mandate for preservation of endangered species was enacted on February 26, 1974, with the passage of the Wildlife Conservation Act (Secs. 17-:-37 through 1 7-2-46, NMSA 1978). This Act directed the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish to establish such appropriate programs, and for the first time in history. the State Legislature appropriated monies from the General Fund for wildlife manage- ment by the Department. By September 1 974, the Department's Endangered Species Program was in full opera- tion--staffed by four fulltime biologists and a secretary. On January 24, 1975, the first State list of endangered species was formally issued by the State Game Commission, as Regulation No. 563. Subsequent revisions of this listing occur- red on March 7, 1975, December 5, 1975, May 21, 1976, February 10, 1978, and May 25, 1979. This handbook treats the list as revised on the last date, covering 93 species of animals that are considered endangered in New Mexico. These comprise 1 4 species of mammals, 30 birds, 18 reptiles, 6 amphibians, 24 fishes, and 1 crus- tacean. Of these, 2 mammals, 3 birds, 4 fishes, 1 reptile, and a crustacean are federally listed. The current listings are now under Regulation No. 599. The Department recognizes the fact that listing of species as endangered is merely a preliminary step toward preservation of such elements of biological diversity. As authorized under the Wildlife Conservation Act, the role of the Endangered Spe- cies Program encompasses the broad spectrum of activities that are necessary to achieve this preservation. These range from surveys and research to habitat acquisi- tion, dissemination of information, and law enforcement. In recognition of the sound- ness of its program, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has qualified New Mexico as a cooperating state under the Endangered Species Act. The cooperative agreement was signed and approved in mid-1976. State Definition of Endangered. Under the New Mexico Wildlife Conservation Act (1974), there are several points in which the definition of "endangered" differs from that of federal laws. In New Mexico, endangered species are defined as those "whose prospects of survival or recruitment within the State are in jeopardy or are likely within the foreseeable future to become so." The State's concept of endanger- ment is thus viewed with reference to populations within a geopolitical bounchlry (i.e. New Mexico), rather than in the federal sense as to populations within a sig- nificant portion or thoughout a species' range. This distinction means that many non-endemic species that are rare, local, peripheral, and/or declining in New Mexico are classified as endangered.