Bird Conservation Region 16

Southern Rockies/Colorado Plateau

Description: This topographically complex region includes the Wasatch and Uinta Mountains to the west and the Southern Rocky Mountains to the east, separated by the rugged tableland of the Colorado Plateau. Various coniferous forest types (often lodgepole pine) interspersed with aspen dominate higher elevations. These are replaced by piñon-juniper woodlands on the lower plateaus. Important birds also segregate into elevational bands, with Browncapped Rosy-Finch and White-tailed Ptarmigan in alpine tundra, Williamson’s Sapsucker in conifers, Virginia’s Warbler and Lewis’ Woodpecker in montane shrub sites, and most of the world’s breeding Gray Vireos in piñon-juniper. High arid plains and dry upland short-grass prairies provide critical breeding areas for Mountain Plover. San Luis Valley wetlands and surrounding uplands support one of the highest densities of nesting waterfowl in North America and provide migration habitat for Sandhill Cranes and other wetland species.

Bird Conservation Plans
Landbirds - New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, Utah
Shorebirds - Intermountain West Region
Waterbirds - Intermountain West Region
Waterfowl - in IWJV Coordinated Bird Conservation Plan
All Birds - IWJV Coordinated Bird Conservation Plan, Plans by State

Joint Venture area: Intermountain West

Bob Vahle
BCR Coordinator
Intermountain West Joint Venture
P.O. Box 1533
Pinetop AZ 85935

Dave Smith, JV Coordinator
Intermountain West Joint Venture
3740 Rodeo Road
Missoula, MT 59803

Back to BCR Map | Back Home | Back to International Site

Note: Hawaii (not shown) is BCR 67

Gulf Coastal Prairie Tamaulipan Brushlands Chihuahuan Desert Sierra Madre Occidental Sonoran and Mojave Deserts Coastal California Peninsular Florida New England/MidAtlantic Coasts Piedmont Appalachian Mountains Southeastern Coastal Plain Mississippi Alluvial Valley West Gulf Coastal Plain/Ouachitas Central Hardwoods Prairie Hardwood Transition Eastern Tallgrass Prairie Oaks and Prairies Edwards Plateau Central Mixed Grass Prairie Shortgrass Prairie Badlands and Prairies Southern Rockies Colorado Plateau Sierra Nevada Atlantic Northern Forests Lower Great Lakes/St.Lawrence Plain Boreal Hardwood Transition Prairie Potholes Northern Rockies Great Basin Boreal Softwood Shield Taiga Shield and Hudson Plains Boreal Taiga Plains Northern Pacific Rainforest Northwestern Interior Forest Arctic Plains and Mountains Western Alaska Aleutian/Bering Sea Islands