Arizona's avifauna is particularly diverse with more than 500 native bird species documented in the state (Corman and Wise-Gervais 2005), many of which have a significant portion of their distribution (seasonal or year-round) in Arizona. To understand the magnitude of threats on bird populations and to help mitigate those threats, a myriad of interested partners formed the Arizona Bird Conservation Initiative (ABCI) in 1991. Coordinated by AZGFD, ABCI is a voluntary partnership of government agencies, conservation groups, academic institutions, private businesses, and citizens working to conserve, monitor, and enhance bird populations and their habitats with the goal of "keeping common birds common."
An integral component of ABCI is the Arizona Coordinated Bird Monitoring Program (AZCBM), which coordinates existing projects, supports projects implemented by partners, and collaborates on the design and implementation of new projects with interested stakeholders. Some of these projects are part of long-term national efforts, others are statewide breeding bird monitoring, while still others are one-time surveys to address a specific data need, such as the North American Breeding, Bird Survey, Grassland Bird Surveys, and the Colonial Waterbird Nest Survey. These projects determine species status, distribution, and long-term population trends for breeding and wintering birds in Arizona, including many SGCN.
These and other monitoring efforts completed as part of the AZCBM provide data to support inclusion or removal of species from the list of SGCN and in prioritization of those species. It also documents AZGFD's goal of keeping common species common and highlighting declining species in which research and conservation efforts are needed.