I recently had the pleasure of leading a short trip to southern Arizona with the main aim to find as many of the near endemics and regional specials as possible. This was a very fast paced trip and very enjoyable. If you have a more time then a full longer tour would be recommended but for birders with just a few days available in the US I can highly recommend Arizona and an added bonus is that you can visit the Grand Canyon which in itself is more than enough reason to visit the state.
Our trip started in Tucson and with an early start we made our way into the Sonoran desert looking for a few very special species. We had a small family of Gambel’s Quail flush next to the road and both Sagebrush and White-crowned Sparrow were seen before we parked and did our first walk. The main targets were the Thrashers and we soon heard and had brief views of Leconte’s Thrasher. We tried for a while to get better views but ran out of time but we did have fantastic views of Crissal, Bendire’s and Curve-billed Thrashers. Other really good species seen include Vesper Sparrow, Lark Bunting, Phainopepla, Mountain Bluebird, Green-tailed Towee, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Lark Sparrow, Cactus Wren, Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, Gilded Flicker, Gila and Ladder-backed Woodpecker. Nearby irrigated fields produced Mountain and Western Bluebird, Prairie Falcon, Peregrine Falcon, Northern Harrier, Loggerhead Shrike, Black-throated Sparrow, Brewer’s and Red-winged Blackbird and Brown-headed Cowbird.
We did a very quick stop for lunch before a short stop at the Sweatwater water treatment ponds which was very productive as most wetland spots the desert are. We saw about 50 species in about 45 minutes and some of the highlights include Mexican Duck, Sora, Anna’s Hummingbird, Wilson’s Snipe, Roadrunner (seeing Roadrunner and Coyote was very enjoyable especially if you grew up watching Looney Tunes cartoons growing up), Pied-billed Grebe, Northern Flicker, Verdin, Violet-green Swallow, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Song Sparrow, Lesser Goldfinch, Abert’s Towee (I consider this species an Arizona endemic or special),Orange-crowned Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Wilson’s Warbler, Marsh Wren, Lincoln’s Sparrow and Pyrrhuloxia. Some of the waterbirds include Pintail, Northern Shoveler, American Wigeon, Gadwall, Mallard Cinnamon Teal, Ring-necked Duck, Ruddy Duck and Green-winged Teal.
We had a do a quick detour to a nearby park to see a overwintering Snow Goose and although we did not spend a lot of time here we did pick up a few new birds in Cooper’s Hawk, Redhead, Snowy Egret, Great Blue Heron, Chipping Sparrow, Tree Swallow, Double-crested Cormorant, American Coot and Northern Rough-winged Swallow. We heard about Cassin’s Kingbirds been seen at another nearby park so decided do another short detour and did get brief views of two birds. It was a productive spot with Costa’s and Anna’s Hummingbird, Neotropic Cormorant, Northern Flicker, Ring-necked Duck, American Wigeon, Western Bluebird, House Finch and Wood Duck seen.
The following morning we did a walk along a small creek and although it was very cold we did see our main target, a Rufous-backed Robin. Once it started warming up the birds starting appearing and we had a pretty good list with White-breasted Nuthatch, Hermit Thrush, Abert’s Towee, Song Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Western Bluebird, Verdin, Bridled Titmouse, Gila and Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Red-naped Sapsucker, Loggerhead Shrike and Phainopepla. It was time to move on to a different section or riverine thickets where we picked up Horned Owl, Hammond’s Flycatcher, Dusky Flycatcher, Hutton’s Vireo, Eastern Phoebe, Gila Woodpecker, Bridled Titmouse, Verdin, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Bewick’s Wren, Lawrence’s Goldfinch, Canyon, Abert’s and Green-tailed Towee, Black-throated Grey Warbler and Northern Cardinal.
It was time for another quick detour to see a Ross’s Goose and picked up a few other good species in Lesser scaup, Ruddy Duck, Bufflehead, Ring-necked Duck, Hooded and Red-breasted Merganser, Black Phoebe, Great-tailed Grackle and European Starling. This was followed by a quick stop at Canoa Ranch Conservation Park where the short walk did produce a healthy list which included Northern Shoveler, Redhead, Greater Roadrunner, Virginia Rail, Costa’s Hummingbird, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Say’s Phoebe, Tree swallow, Brewer’s, Song, Vesper and Lincoln Sparrow, Abert’s Towhee, Common Yellowthroat and Pyrrhuloxia. We had lunch in a small park with a few Hummingbird feeders where we quickly picked our our main target, Broad-billed Hummingbird.
From here we moved into the mountains where we had the rest of the afternoon to explore two canyons. The first was the Madera Canyon and a very popular birding spot with good reason for this status. A Louisiana Waterthrush have been having out here and we quick found this popular visitor. Other very good species seen on the walk include Olive Warbler, Dark-eyed and Yellow-eyed Junco, Bewick’s Wren, White-breasted Nuthatch, Bridled Titmouse, Brown Creeper, Mexican Jay, Hutton’s Vireo, Ladder-backed, Arizona, Gila and Acorn Woodpecker, Red-naped and a surprise Williamson’s Sapsucker and Cooper’s Hawk. At the feeders we found Rivoli’s Hummingbird, Wild Turkey, Pine Siskin, Hepatic Tanager, Lesser Goldfinch and Chipping Sparrow. Florida Canyon was the second stop in this part of the mountain where the main target was a pair of Rufous-capped Sparrow which we found after waiting patiently. We did see White-throated Swift, Hermit Thrush, Spotted Towhee and Curve-billed Thrasher as well.
There was a bit of daylight left as we approached the grasslands around Sonoita so we stopped at a cattle drinking pond hoping for a few seedeaters. After walking around for a few minutes we got lucky with Thick-billed Longspur and Savannah Sparrow. We did a quick bit of owling where we found a Spotted Owl before enjoying a drink and great steak in the small town of Sonoita.
The next morning we were up pre dawn and heading into the grasslands for a walk in pretty cold weather but was definitely worth is as we found our main target and one of the more difficult to see Arizona targets, Baird’s Sparrow. This was followed by a flock of Chestnut-collared Longspur, American Pipit, Black-throated Sparrow, Chihuahuan and Western Meadowlark, Mountain Bluebird, Chihuahuan Raven, Prairie Falcon, Northern Harrier and an American Kestrel. A stop a bit further on produced Loggerhead Shrike, Cassin’s Sparrow and Grasshopper Sparrow.
It was time for a quick breakfast and we made our way to Patagonia and the famous Harshaw Creek Road where we did spend a couple of hours working the area around the creek. We managed to pick up a very good diversity of species including Gambel’s Quail, Red-naped Sapsucker, Hammond’s Flycatcher, Eastern Phoebe, Black-chinned Sparrow, Canyon Towhee, Northern Cardinal and our main target, a Painted Redstart. One cannot pass through Patagonia without stopping at the Paton Center for Hummingbirds which is a stunning little spot and does a great job of offering a sanctuary for resident and migrating species as well as helping beginner birders. Inca Dove was new for the trip but we had 3 big targets that we were after. The first was a Fox Sparrow and although it took a while to get good views of this secretive little sparrow we all had good views. The other two were Lazuli and Indigo Bunting and we were made to work hard for these two and they decided to show up just as we were running out of time.
We made a quick detour and stop to see a Canyon Wren before our last stop in southern Arizona was the Patagonia Lark State Park, another excellent stop. We were treated to a healthy selection of waterbirds including Blue-winged Teal, Green-winged Teal, Redhead, Greater and Lesser Scaup, Bufflehead, Common Merganser, Ruddy Duck, Eared Grebe and Red-throated Loon together with the more common species. A walk in the riverine woodland produced Dusky and Ash-throated Flycatcher, Northern Beardless Tyrannulet, Northern Mockingbird, Rufous-winged Sparrow, Abert’s Towhee and Red-winged Blackbird. What a fantastic 3 days in southern Arizona and it was time for some of the group to head north to northern Arizona for a quick two day stop.
You cannot visit this part of the world without visiting the Grand Canyon which is spectacular and definitely worth visiting. It has a massive wow factor especially when seeing it for the first time. The main reason was not birding but we did see a few good species like Hairy Woodpecker, Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay
Mountain Chickadee, Bushtit, Red Crossbill and Dark-eyed Junco to name a few. The next morning we did have a few hours for birding and we started off at Willow Lake in Prescott where started off with a Porcupine in a tree. From a birding point of view some of the new birds include Canada Goose, Wood Duck, Northern Pintail, Canvasback and Peregrine Falcon. Granite Basin Lake produced Acorn and Hairy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Anna’s Hummingbird, Mountain Chickadee, Bridled and Juniper Titmouse, Bushtit, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Pygmy Nuthatch and Spotted Towhee. We had just enough time for a very quick stop at Goldwater Lakes not far from Prescott where we found Rind-necked Duck, Common Goldeneye, Hooded Merganser, Steller’s Jay Bushtit, Mountain Chickadee and Pygmy Nuthatch.
This concluded our very quick and fast paced but incredible productive Arizona birding trip. For those with more time I would strongly recommend a longer and slower paced trip but for those with little time you can see an incredible number and diversity of species both special from a US but also a world birding perspective.
