Birds of Mt. Lemmon, 2016-2026

7/28/2026

Rivoli's Hummingbird, a hummer of Summerhaven!

Mt. Lemmon is one of the many “sky islands” in SE Arizona, rising to over 9000 feet in the Catalina Range just north of Tucson. This post is a collection of the forty bird species I have had the pleasure to see and photograph on Mt. Lemmon over the past ten years. Granted, there are many more than forty species that frequent the mountain, but these are the ones you will most likely run into.

Hotspots for birds on the mountain include:

The village of Summerhaven, especially along the creek downhill into Marshall Gulch, and uphill along Turkey Run toward the ski area.
The Meadow Trail on the summit near the observatories,
The forest service road toward Mt. Bigelow, and
Rose Canyon.

The birds described here are roughly sorted by those that:

Live on the mountain year round,
Nest during the summer only, or,
Migrate north or south, spring or fall.

Each bird name and its photograph has an embedded link to a blog post that provides more photographs and information about the species, and in some cases maps of their location or specialized behavior. Just click on the bird's name or the image to learn more. These posts usually cover about eight species, so if you don't see your bird at the top of the post, keep scrolling down!

Let's start with one of our year-round residents, the Acorn Woodpecker, a red, white and black bird that looks more like a clown than a bird!

Acorn Woodpeckers are very social birds, nesting in large colonies in dead trees, raising their young cooperatively, and working in groups to store acorns gathered from the riparian oaks by the creek to keep the colony fed throughout the winter.

Acorn Woodpeckers are named after their dietary staple, acorns, gathered from riparian oaks. Look for the Acorn Woodpecker’s granary trees, where they drill holes for acorns, then store and very carefully rotate them ensuring they are deep and tight within the holes to keep them secure from other birds or squirrels.

Acorn Woodpeckers will come to feeders to gather a variety of seeds including peanuts. They are generally dominant over some larger birds, for example the Steller’s Jay. Listen for the Acorn’s communal call of “waka-waka-waka” as they alert their extended family when the feeders get refilled.

Above, a female Acorn Woodpecker stares down a larger Steller's Jay adjacent to feeders. The Steller's Jay retreated. Below, left, an Acorn in flight with a seed, showing a flash of white on the rump and wings. Below, right, an Acorn in flight with a cherished peanut in the shell, good feeder food. Note that the females sport a black band on the head between the white forehead and the red cap.

Other residents to look for, images left to right and working down, include Wild Turkeys, often wandering through Summerhaven in flocks of 12 to 18, Common Ravens, Pine Siskins, Mountain Chickadees, and Spotted Towhees.

If you are a visitor from out of town, look for the Yellow-eyed Junco, photo to the right, very common on the mountain but rare everywhere else.

Stay alert for the Red Crossbill, a nomadic finch shown in the two frames below. Crossbills are irruptive feeders, occasionally coming to the mountain in search of seeds from pine cones. They have a sharp crossed bill that is ideal for popping seeds out of cones.

Come summer, May to September, look for nesting activity, by both our year-round and summer residents. Two of my favorites summer nesters are the Red-faced Warbler and the Painted Redstart, images below, winter residents of Mexico that nest in the sky islands of Arizona, usually near streams.

Both of these warblers are regulars near Sabino Creek from the village of Summerhaven into Marshall Gulch, and in Rose Canyon. Both eat exclusively insects year round. As the summer turns to fall and the insect counts fall, they head south again.

Another summer nester is the Western Flycatcher, formerly known as the Cordilleran Flycatcher, which arrives in the spring from Mexico and likes to build nests on almost any flat spot, including car tires!

Their nests are common in the village and in Rose Canyon. They seem happy to nest on or near cabins, often coming back to the same high beam or low hose rack year after year! They eat insects, and will stick around until the insect counts fall and then return to Mexico. Western Flycatcher pairs will often return to Mt. Lemmon year after year, finding their way back to our woods after a long migration.

Chattering nuthatches are among our smallest and most energetic residents. Images below, left to right and moving down, White-breasted, Pygmy and the less numerous Red-breasted Nuthatch feasting on insects. Nuthatches nest throughout the coniferous forest, including Mount Lemmon.

Other nesters to look for include the Hairy Woodpecker, above to the right.

Other nesters shown below are, left to right: Northern Flickers, Plumbeous Vireos, American Robins, House Wrens, Violet Green Swallows, and Western Bluebirds.

Below, left to right, both Broad-tailed and Rivoli’s hummingbirds are regulars from spring into fall, and numerous Rufous Hummingbirds stop at Mount Lemmon on their way to and from their northern breeding grounds. Anna’s and Broad-billed Hummingbirds, summer regulars in Tucson, may grace Summerhaven feeders and can be seen in Molino Basin and General Hitchcock campgrounds.

To the right, Black-headed Grosbeaks are summer breeders on Mt. Lemmon and frequent visitors to backyard feeders, favoring sunflower seeds which they crack open with their big bills.

Hermit Thrushes are year-round residents of Arizona, wintering below 6000 feet and nesting above 5500 feet, including Mount Lemmon. Listen for their beautiful song beginning with a sustained flute-like whistle followed by a cluster of harmonics and ending with lower echo-like tones.

Summer on Mt Lemmon would not be complete without a look at raptors and scavengers. Red-tailed Hawks, image to the right, winter in Mexico but return to the U.S. in March each year and are regulars soaring over Mt. Lemmon looking for prey. Look for them especially along the Meadow Trail near the observatories.

And we thank the clean-up crew of Turkey Vultures, image to the left, circling the mountain and keeping it clean of dead stuff, with no grumbling and no fees!

And, if you are lucky, you might spot an American Goshawk coming out of the deep forest just long enough to be seen, or a Zone-tailed Hawk kettling with Turkey Vultures.

Come fall, our summer nesters follow the food back to Mexico and we get to enjoy travelers from the north who stop by just long enough to get some food and water. Keep your eyes out for Red-naped Sapsuckers and Lewis’s Woodpeckers as well as Townsend’s, Hermit, Grace’s, Nashville, Wilson’s and Black-throated Gray Warbers as they all head south.