![]() ![]() I wanted to spend some time there but my better half was very tired so while she took a short nap in the car I took quick walk around the visitors entrance and the parking lot. I saw Cactus Wrens, Brewer’s Sparrows, Phainopepla and Pyrrhuloxia as well as a few other common species. When we left the restaurant we drive over to Sabino Canyon. On the way to the restaurant we saw many White-winged Doves (yes Stevie Nicks fans, the bird mentioned in the hit song Edge of Seventeen – “just like the White-winged Dove, Sings a Song, Sounds like she’s singing…”). Upon arriving in Tucson a little before lunch my wife and I headed to a restaurant in town (Wildflower, highly recommended) to have lunch before heading down to our hotel in Sierra Vista. ![]() I have no regrets as I saw 163 species, 70 of which were life birds. I tried to time the trip when I thought most breeding species had returned, but also not to late to miss western species that were still migrating through the region. There is not a bad time to visit the area as there is something special to see in all seasons. My wife and I went there for ten days in 2013 starting at the end of April and leaving on May 4th. I was fortunate to see, or hear, all of these with the exception of the kingbird and the nightjar. Birds such as Thick-billed Kingbird, Elegant Trogon, Buff-collared Nightjar, Buff-breasted Flycatcher, Dusky-capped Flycatcher, Arizona Woodpecker and Whiskered Screech-Owl are just a few of these species. Because of this there are many bird species that can only be found in the United States in this region. Like the Rio Grande area in Texas this region borders Mexico. I can say, however, many other well traveled birders have mentioned to me that if they had to pick one location in the country to bird, Southeast Arizona would be that location. I must in full disclosure mention that as of this writing I have not been to either the Rio Grande region 0f Texas or to California. to northern Michigan, New Foundland.I have not traveled through the country as extensively as others, but I have made a few trips that involved birding, and hands down my favorite was to Southeast Arizona. in New Jersey (May) and southern New England (June). Migration: most migrate August–early September, stragglers into October, often in large groups through coastal Texas. A stick nest built in a tall tree may be part of a loose colony of up to 20 pairs. Isolated colonies in New Mexico and Arizona. Facial moustache mark and more powerful flight are diagnostic.īreeding: Central Great Plains states, Gulf Coast, and up the Atlantic coast into the Carolinas. Adult peregrine falcon is larger, but shows similar silhouette in flight. Underwing coverts are gray in adults, mottled in juvenile. Tail is square-tipped, usually flared in flight. The pointed wings are notable in that the outer primary is much shorter than the next one. Subadult: body plumage similar to adult’s, but with a blend of juvenal and adult feathers, especially on tail and flight feathers in late summer/first spring. Underparts are heavily streaked, and the dark tail has multiple thin white bands. Back and wings are dark brown with buffy edges, scapulars have white spots. ![]() Juvenile: dark brown eyes in a gray-brown head, with wide, creamy superciliary line and gray cheeks. Adult female: Like male, but darker head, whitish barring on undertail coverts. Seen from above, light secondaries form a bar across the wings. IdentificationĪdult male: dark gray overall, lighter head with red eyes, dark primaries and tail. A buoyant flier, it soars on flat wings, often high up in the air on thermals, catching and eating insects on the wing. This small, pointed-winged kite looks more like a falcon than any other of our kites. ![]()
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