Home : North American Birding : Birding in Arizona

Arizona Dreaming

By Bill Thompson, III

I'd always wanted to visit southeastern Arizona but during each of my previous trips to the state I'd run out of time before I made it all the way to the truly birdy parts. Miller Canyon, Portal, Cave Creek, and Fort Huachuca are places that had reached an almost mythical status in my mind. I'd read about them and the fantastic birds they held, I'd edited articles about these places, but I'd never been there. So when Julie and I were asked to be the keynote speakers at the 2004 Southwest Wings Birding Festival in Bisbee, Arizona, we eagerly accepted.

Upon our arrival in AZ we nabbed our rental van and headed south for our bed and breakfast, Casa de San Pedro, in Hereford. Within minutes of arriving at this very charming and comfortable B&B, we spotted a lazuli bunting and a family of Gambel's quail at the feeding station in the backyard. Swainson's hawk and loggerhead shrikes hunted nearby as we took a short walk down to the San Pedro River. It was sunny, hot, and very birdy. Ahhhh...

We spent the next several days soaking up the events at the Southwest Wings festival in Bisbee and enjoying the great local bird watching. The Huachuca Mountains are home to many of southeastern Arizona's most desirable birds, including elegant trogon, hepatic tanager, sulphur-bellied flycatcher, and spotted owl. We were lucky enough to see all of these. Especially thrilling was our hike up Scheelite Canyon to find the spotted owl (actually two fledglings perched together!). We also had an opportunity to "go to school" on some of the sparrows of Arizona, including rufous-winged, rufous-crowned,Cassin's, and Botteri's sparrow. Sorted sorting these little skulkers out can be a chore, but it's one we dove into enthusiastically since nearly every one was a life bird for one of us.

Our third morning in AZ was a greatly anticipated field trip with Sheri Williamson and Tom Wood, founders of the Southeastern Arizona Bird Observatory. These transplanted Texans have become thoroughly immersed in the natural history of southeastern AZ and they are knowledgeable on just about every living thing in this part of the world. Sheri is recognized as a hummingbird expert (she's the author of the Hummingbirds volume of the Peterson Field Guide series), but she and Tom are both expert butterflyers and botanizers. We enjoyed a hike up Miller Canyon and were treated to red-faced warbler, white-eared hummingbird, black-headed grosbeak, and lots of other species too numerous to list here.

Then the Beatty's Bed & Breakfast at the top of Miller Canyon's main road is a well-known destination for hummingbirds and hummingbirders. Sitting at one of the many feeding stations the Beatty's have erected both for the birds and birders, we watched, slack-jawed, as a constant parade of Anna's, rufous, black-chinned, magnificent, broad-tailed, and broad-billed hummingbirds zipped to and from the feeders. The white-eared hummingbird was the truly rare treat of the day. But what most impressed Julie and me was the sheer numbers of hummers present. "Wow, look at the BEAUTIFUL gorget on that little guy on Feeder 7! Hey magnificent male just buzzed our head! WAIT I hear the white-eared! THERE IT IS!!!" Sheri gushed excitedly. "This isn't even really hopping like it can be," intoned Tom, who is the laid-back opposite to Sheri's high-energy personality. We were knocked out nonetheless.

After giving our "Music of the Birds" keynote presentation to the Southwest Wings attendees on Saturday night, Julie and I headed to Portal, Arizona for our final two days of relaxed birding. Relaxed, yes, but not sedentary. Birding in the canyons of southeastern Arizona often involves hiking up into various life zones to look for specific birds in specific habitats. Hiking at high altitude (for us) were a bit more strenuous than we'd expected, but we enjoyed (and needed) the exercise.

We had the pleasure of being accompanied by Wezil and Lisa Walraven two expert and enthusiastic AZ birders. Wezil (yes that's his real name) is the owner/operator of Wezil Walraven Bird Tours and an expert on the specialty birds of the area. Lisa (yes that's her real name, too) is a talented artist and a grounding force to Wezil's high-energy approach to life. Thanks to these two our Portal birding experience was thoroughly enjoyable. While we never did see a Montezuma quail, one of my quest birds, we did get great looks at lots of other cool birds, including zone-tailed hawk, short-tailed hawk, red-faced, hermit, Lucy's, Grace's, olive, and Townsend's warbler, and red crossbill. The only thing topping the birding enjoyment was our constant laughter. We could have stayed forever.

Maybe next time we will!