February-March weather in NW Montana can be brutal, so when mr. giddy thing suggested a month-long trip to SE Arizona, we eagerly donned our snowbird wings (ok, we lugged our camp trailer) and headed south. We arrived in Tucson, AZ during a week of cold, blustery weather — temps in the 30-40s° F, winds 10-30 mph — even a dusting of snow on the valley floor (!) and heavier snowfall in the mountains. Despite cool temps and often relentless winds, birding was productive, exciting, and incredibly fun.
My last trip to SE Arizona was 5 years ago, so I was primed to hit the many birding hotspots the region is so famous for. SE Arizona’s world-class birding owes to a confluence of factors: a crossroads meeting of the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts; ~50 “sky island” mountain ranges connecting Mexico’s subtropical Sierra Madre with the temperate U.S. Rocky Mountains; variable topography and elevation creating a stack of life zones supporting astounding biodiversity; and a bi-seasonal rainfall pattern that creates a “second spring” and opportunities to see Mexican birds. The mix of endemic, migrant, breeding, and wintering birds means good birding in all 5 seasons.
A few of SE Arizona’s sky island mountain ranges, looking northeast from the Huachuca Mountains.
We covered a lot of ground on our trip. For our collective sanity, I’ll limit Part 1 to a couple habitat types with birding hotspots noted and some photos of the birds seen. I’ll table the rest for a future DC or Daily Bucket.
In ~3 weeks of AZ birding, I tallied 159 species, 4 of which were life birds.
Riparian Corridors (Sweetwater Wetlands, Avra Valley Wastewater Treatment Plant, Canoa Ranch Conservation Park, Agua Caliente Park, Patagonia Lake State Park, De Anza Trail-Tubac, Sierra Vista Environmental Operations Park, Paton Center for Hummingbirds, Peña Blanca Lake)
These were among my favorite sites to bird, especially Sweetwater Wetlands for its beautiful ponds, towering cottonwoods, and overall avian diversity. I visited 3 times and always saw a different assemblage of birds. Patagonia Lake was another favorite for all the waterbirds and the chance to search for a couple species on eBird’s Rare Bird Alert (Snowy Egret, Clark’s Grebe).
An Orange-crowned Warbler gleans seeds from a cattail flower. Orangies were common in riparian areas and males were often heard singing. [zoom]
A male Ladder-backed Woodpecker at Sweetwater Wetlands; about the size of a Hairy Woodpecker. [zoom]
Love the speckly red, white, and brown crown on this male Ladder-backed Woodpecker. [zoom]
A Greater Roadrunner showing bright blue and red facial skin, indicating readiness for breeding. I heard and saw this male singing its “co-coo-coo-cooooo” song while appearing to herk up a hairball! [zoom]
Glad to see this Sora found an aquatic oasis in the Arizona desert. [zoom]
Snowy Egret at Patagonia State Park Birding Trail, reported on the Pima County Rare Bird Alert. [zoom]
Handsome Double-crested Cormorants sporting floofy crests, turquoise eyes, and yellow bills. [zoom]
We twitched a few places to find Lawrence’s Goldfinch, considered a rare species in the Santa Cruz Valley. [zoom]
Pied-billed Grebe vs. large frog. Reminded me of that “Never Give Up” cartoon (except this frog was quite deceased). [zoom]
An immature Cooper’s Hawk eyes me and the nearby doves. Cooper’s Hawks were common in all locales we birded. [zoom]
A male Gilded Flicker, differentiated from yellow-shafted morph of Northern Flicker by its red mustache and lack of red crescent on the back of its head. [zoom]
Female of a pair of Gray Hawks perched high in cottonwoods along Sonoita Creek in Patagonia. The range of this tropical hawk barely edges into Arizona and Texas. [zoom]
Male Gray Hawk, perched across Sonoita Creek from his mate. [zoom]
Mr. giddy thing swore he saw a large falcon buzz over the Paton Center for Hummingbirds, then I heard wailing. We tracked it to the cottonwoods on adjacent Sonoita Creek. [zoom]
Themes and variations of Vermillion Flycatcher plumage. Female in lower left. [zoom]
A male Broad-billed Hummingbird recently arrived at Paton Center for Hummingbirds in Patagonia, AZ. [zoom]
Desert Scrub & Grasslands (Saguaro National Park, Tucson Mountain Park, Las Cienegas National Conservation Area, Tubac Presidio State Historic Park, Tucson Botanical Gardens, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum)
This habitat category includes the iconic saguaro/ocotillo/cholla forests surrounding Tucson; scrubby-shrubby associations of palo verde, ironwood, catclaw acacia, mesquite, jojoba, and creosote bush; and the arid grasslands around Sonoita, AZ. These classic Sonoran Desert habitats were especially fun to bird due to openness, outright gorgeousness, and presence of unique birds.
View from the Rincon Mountain (east) District of Saguaro National Park looking north to the Santa Catalina Mountains.
Cactus Wren, the State Bird of Arizona and soundtrack to every western movie you’ve ever seen. [zoom]
Curve-billed Thrashers are common residents of SE Arizona’s deserts, canyons, and brushlands. [zoom]
Cactus Wren and Curve-billed Thrasher share a grand old Saguaro snag. [zoom]
Elegant little Black-throated Sparrows never failed to take my breath away. [zoom]
Like most towhees, the well-camouflaged Canyon Towhee keeps close to the ground and under cover. [zoom]
The wee Verdin is the ‘chickadee’ of the desert; boisterous, vocal, and seemingly everywhere. Their range of vocalizations often had me flummoxed! [zoom]
Verdin crafting its stick-nest in the fortress of a thorny cholla. [zoom]
Over-achieving Verdin calls softly and carries a big stick. [zoom]
Black-tailed Gnatcatcher — a feisty, flitty, and enchanting little imp of scrubby arroyos. [zoom]
An impressive Harris’s Hawk, photographed during a Raptor Free Flight Program at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. We did see 2 Harris’s Hawks in the wild near the Rincon unit of Saguaro National Park. [zoom]
A female Anna’s Hummingbird flies in to sip an Aloe flower at Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. [zoom]
Gila Woodpeckers are primary cavity-nesters in Saguaro Cactus (meaning they excavate the nest hole). When finished using the nest hole, secondary cavity-nesters, including American Kestrels, Elf Owls, Ferruginous Pygmy-Owls, Ash-throated Flycatchers, Cactus Wrens, and Lucy’s Warblers, will move in. [zoom]
A Chihuahuan Meadowlark sings from an elevated tuft of grass at Las Cienegas National Conservation Area. Its song was very different from Western or Eastern Meadowlark songs. [zoom]
Could this tiny Rock Wren be more perfectly camouflaged to the rock he’s singing on? [zoom]
A male Anna’s Hummingbird takes a break from bugging to bask in the late afternoon sun. [zoom]
Lucy’s Warblers were just arriving in SE Arizona as we were preparing to leave. On our last day in Tucson, we found a Lucy’s Warbler in a mesquite grove at Sam Lena Park. ‘Twas a lifer bird for me! [zoom]
One of my favorite Arizona birds, the droll-faced Pyrrhuloxia seen in good numbers at San Pedro RNCA. This beauty is a female. [zoom]
Male Pyrrhuloxia brings the bling. The roots of their odd vernacular name mean "flame-colored" and "crooked" — an apt description of the bird’s red plumage and chunky bill. [zoom]
The Phainopepla’s name translated from Greek means “shining robe.” It’s the only U.S. member of the “silky flycatcher” family. Blood-red irises and bold white patches on the wings in flight make this one of the most visually striking of desert-dwelling birds. [zoom]
The female Phainopepla is equally beautiful in her sooty gray plumage. [zoom]
A quick camera shot helped me identify this bird as a Crissal Thrasher based on the black-and-white mustache and rich chestnut patch under the tail. Another lifer bird for me. [zoom]
Either a Dusky, Hammond’s, or Gray Flycatcher. Anyone willing to hazard a guess besides “Empid sp.”? [zoom]
White-winged Dove — very common, but lovely “coos” and wonderfully colorful face. [zoom]
Inca Doves are small, delicate doves with tan scaly-looking feathers and gorgeous chestnut patches on the primaries. Pretty adorable how they snuggle up for warmth. [zoom]
An Inca Dove exposing the bright chestnut patch on its wing. [zoom]
Wrens were seen in about every habitat visited: Canyon Wren, Bewick’s Wren, Marsh Wren, Rock Wren, and this little House Wren seen at San Pedro House while snooping around for a Winter Wren reported on eBird. [zoom]
I should be embarrassed posting this photo, but this is my “evidence” of a Five-striped Sparrow seen for a few seconds in Box Canyon. Another lifer. Can you see it? [zoom]
My fourth lifer of the trip was a Thick-billed Longspur observed in a mixed flock of Chestnut-collared Longspur and Horned Larks at Las Cienegas National Conservation Area. They were a long distance away, so no photo, but plenty of thrills through the spotting scope. My nemesis birds of the trip were LeConte’s Thrasher and Olive Warbler, which I’ll try to catch next time.
In Part 2 I’ll report on the birds seen in SE Arizona’s pine-oak woodlands and mixed-conifer forests. Thanks for joining the trip on Part 1!
Dawn Chorus is now open for your birdy reports of the week!
