Here are the top 10 must-see birds in Arizona and where you can spot them

Shanti Lerner, Arizona Republic
·8 min read
10

While many people enjoy birding to witness the intrinsic beauty of each species, it's a bird’s behavior and its similiarities to humans that draw many birders to study and learn about them, says Richard Cachor Taylor, author of the new book "Birds of Arizona," a comprehensive field guide.

“They are attractive to people just in and of themselves, but also they tell us a great deal about our own selves," Taylor said. "Like people, they communicate frequently, they have songs with special uses, they build houses, and just the way they express themselves gives you insight into your own life.

"So I think the more people look at birds, the more they realize how united we are in our requirements to have a safe and successful existence on this planet, which is why many people love bird-watching.”

But in Arizona, the richest state for birds in the United States with more than 500 documented species, how can one decide what bird to look for?

Taylor, a lifelong resident of southeastern Arizona who operated a birding tour company called Borderland Tours for more than 40 years, says creating a list of birds you want to see is totally subjective depending on your interests.

The Arizona Republic talked to Taylor to learn about birding in Arizona, including his top 10 must-see birds in the state.

Best bird-watching hikes in Arizona:Where to look for trogons, owls, tanagers and more

The most interesting birds in Arizona and where to find them

This information is excerpted from Taylor’s "Birds of Arizona," a field guide of more than 500 species that's intended for birders of all levels. The book contains details on a bird’s status, behavior, elevation, habitat and characteristics. There are detailed maps showing the seasonal distribution of birds in the state.

The book is $26.95 at Amazon, most Arizona Barnes & Noble bookstores, nature shops, Wild Birds Unlimited, select Ace Hardware stores and through its publisher, R.W. Morse Company.

Here is some terminology about the relative rarity of various species to get you started:

  • Accidental: A bird that has been recorded three or fewer times in a decade, or a bird that shows up outside of its normal range.

  • Casual: Birds that are seen occasionally — perhaps yearly — but are not regularly occurring in a region.

  • Common: Birds that are found in moderate to large numbers and easily seen in their appropriate habitat at the right time of year.

  • Uncommon: Birds that are found in small numbers in the right habitat at the right time of year.

From hummingbirds to warblers:What to know to start backyard birding in metro Phoenix

Elegant Trogon

Taylor says this is Arizona’s marquee bird and is essentially limited to Arizona in the United States.

  • Description: The male is emerald green above and scarlet red below. The uppertail is coppery green and the underside finely barred with wavy black lines. The female has a white “teardrop” behind the eye, is neutral grayish-brown in its upperparts, brownish vest, pink abdomen and has a bronze uppertail and undertail that is heavily barred black.

  • Habitat: In the summer, this bird can be found on major mountain canyons, usually with sycamore groves. In the winter, it can be found in foothill and lower mountain canyon groves. Recent surveys sponsored by Tucson Audubon Society have usually recorded approximately 150 to 170 Elegant Trogons in southeastern Arizona.

  • Status: Fairly common but local in summer from months April up to October. They are rare and local in winter from November to April.

Good watching:For some of the best birding in Arizona, try this less-visited destination. Here's how

Sandhill crane

  • Description: This is a very tall wading bird with long tertials on its lower back forming a “bustle.” The adult is entirely gray with a red crown; most variably stained rusty on the body.

  • Habitat: Valley fields and pastures with nearby shallow ponds.

  • Status: Common in the winter from October to March and are casual above 7,000 feet in the summer from June to September.

Dramatic migration:Tens of thousands of sandhill cranes return to southern Arizona for the winter

Blue-throated Mountain-gem

This is the largest hummingbird in the United States, Taylor says, and is also essentially limited to Arizona in the U.S.

  • Description: This is a husky hummingbird with medium-length bill. It has a gray rump and uniform gray underparts with broad blue-black tail with bold white corners. The male has a blue throat and the female has a gray throat.

  • Habitat: These hummingbirds can be found in mountain canyon groves with perennial water. Casual down to 2,000 feet, up to 9,300 feet and accidental in northern Arizona.

  • Status: Fairly common in summer from April to October and rare in the winter, November to March.

Hummingbird heaven:Why Arizona has so many, and how to attract them to your yard

Gilded flicker

This woodpecker is fairly common on the fringes of southern Arizona cities, Taylor says.

  • Description: This is a large, brown, bar-backed woodpecker with a black chest band. It also has yellow wings and tail shafts. The male has a red mustache. It has yellow underwings and undertail with a white rump.

  • Habitat: The gilded flicker can be found in a saguaro desert. It is rare in cottonwood groves in southeastern Arizona valleys. Gilded flickers are largely confined to the range of saguaro cactus in Arizona and adjacently in California.

  • Status: This bird is a fairly common resident of the state.

Exclusive:Everything to know about Gila monsters, including what to do if you're bitten

Red-faced warbler

Taylor says this is the most tastefully marked of all warblers in the United States and Arizona is the best place to see it.

  • Description: Dapper gray warbler with red face, black head-band and white rump.

  • Habitat: This bird can be found in upper canyon riparian coniferous forests mixed with groves of Gambel oak and quaking aspen. As a breeding species in the U.S., the red-faced warbler is confined to Arizona and adjacently in New Mexico.

  • Status: Common in summer from mid-April to mid-September.

California condor

This majestic bird is the iconic avian symbol of the Grand Canyon, Taylor says.

  • Description: This huge, black raptor-like bird has a bare head and neck. An adult's head is orange and yellow. The California condor has an enormous wingspread approaching 10 feet with long primaries splayed like fingers and long white triangles on its underwings. It has irregular thin white lines on upperwings.

  • Habitat: This bird can be found by cliffs and primarily forages over open terrain. Since condors can forage up to 125 miles in a day, it is not surprising that they have been observed throughout the Grand Canyon, north as far as Zion National Park in Utah, west of Las Vegas, Nevada, east to Los Alamos, New Mexico, and south as far as Oak Creek Canyon near Sedona.

  • Status: This bird is an uncommon resident.

Peregrine falcon

  • Description: The peregrine falcon is a husky, helmet-headed falcon. Adults are slate-gray above and black-barred below.

  • Habitat: In the summer, they can be found on mountains, especially in cliff areas near water. In the winter, they can be found in deserts and valleys, especially near water.

  • Status: Uncommon in summer from mid-April to August. More numerous in the winter but are still generally uncommon from mid-September to April.

Whiskered screech owl

Taylor says this is the quintessential night bird of the Sierra Madre.

  • Description: This small “eared” owl of the mountains has yellow eyes and greenish bill and relatively small feet. Best identified by voice, a syncopated “Morse Code” series of short and long toots. This bird calls infrequently after July.

  • Habitat: Reaches its greatest density in mid-elevation mountain canyon sycamore groves and Sierra Madrean pine-oak woodland. This owl sparingly occurs in high elevation ponderosa pine forest. Most nests are in sycamore trees. At their northern limits in southeastern Arizona, these owls inhabit the Sierra Madre chain south to Nicaragua.

  • Status: Fairly common resident.

Montezuma quail

Taylor says this is the most intricately patterned of all game birds and the most difficult to spot.

  • Description: The Montezuma quail is a plump, short-tailed, strikingly patterned quail with blob-like “pony-tail” crest on its hindhead. The male has a “clown” face and the female has a muted facial pattern of the male.

  • Habitat: Foothill and mountain grassy oak woodlands, pine-oak woodlands and open coniferous forests.

  • Status: Fairly common resident. Montezuma quail numbers are directly correlated to precipitation the previous summer.

Flame-colored tanager

  • Description: This tanager has a large dark bill, a dark-bordered ear-patch and striped back. The male has reddish-orange foreparts and the female has yellow.

  • Habitat: Border range canyon groves within pine-oak woodland. In Arizona, known only from the Santa Rita, Huachuca and Chiricahua mountains. First record in Arizona was in April 1985.

  • Status: Rare in summer months of early April to August.

How to record your bird sightings

Be a proactive birder: Submit information and photos of the birds you see at https://ebird.org/home.

Christmas Bird Count at Tonto National Monument

Birders of all levels of experience are invited to take part in the National Audubon Society’s 123rd annual Christmas Bird Count. Visitors will identify and count bird species at the monument during this drop-in event. Meet at the visitor center, where bird identification guides and data recording materials will be provided. Bring binoculars if you have them. The data is used to study the long-term health and status of bird populations across NorthAmerica.

Details: 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 17. Tonto National Monument, 26260 State Route 188, Roosevelt. Free. 928-467-2241, https://www.nps.gov/tont.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Birds of Arizona: 10 for your life list and where to see them