Canon R5 Mk II, RF100-500mm at 500mm, 1/1000 sec., f/8.0, ISO 1000,+1.67 EV. This is my second post on Agua Caliente, the first was on April 5, 2025, on two birds in the air over Pond 1, the Violet-green Swallow and the Neotropic Cormorant. In this post, I will cover some of the songbirds at the park - some seasonal regulars, others migrants. Let's start with a winter favorite of the desert southwest, the Phainopepla. PhainopeplaCanon R5 Mk II, RF100-500mm at 500mm, 1/800 sec., f/8.0, ISO 640,+1.33 EV.
The male is silky black with a flash of white on the wing, which can only be seen in flight, as shown below. The female is grey to brown with the same brilliant red eye. Canon R5 Mk II, RF100-500mm at 254mm, 1/3200 sec., f/5.0, ISO 320,+0.67 EV. Below, likely an immature male in flight, with a black head, gray/black back and a hint of white in the flight feathers. Canon R5 Mk II, RF100-500mm at 238 mm, 1/3200 sec., f/5.0, ISO 500,+0.67 EV. Below an immature male captured at Sabino Canyon in December of 2022. Note that immatures have a hint of yellow on the bill, in addition to the incomplete body coloring. Canon R6, RF100-500mm at 500mm, 1/500 sec., f/7.1, ISO 400,+0.67 EV. It is rare in Tucson to see any two Phainopepla together, aside from breeding in the spring, when I have seen breeding pairs together. However, this month has brought a veritable Phainopepla convention to a water feature in our backyard in midtown Tucson. The image below is one of hundreds I have captured recently of groups of as many as three males and 5 females all flocking around the water. This cluster of four are all in the same focal plane and sitting reasonably still! The difference in coloration of the males vs. the females is evident in the photograph. For the photo geeks: These birds move very fast, and although the top of the waterfall is not that deep front to back, it is difficult to get a group in the same focal plane. I got lucky on this shot, they were close enough that at f/7.1 there was enough depth of field. For the bird nerds: When it gets really hot, birds are drawn to running water in preference to feeders. Granted, both are a good idea for your backyard, but when it gets to 100 degrees, this fountain is a bird magnet! Canon R5 Mk II, RF100-500mm at 324mm, 1/2000 sec., f/7.1, ISO 2500, -0.67 EV. Phainopepla are year round residents of SE Arizona. They have two nesting cycles, the first in the sonoran desert between February and April, and the second beginning in May in oak and sycamore canyons where it is cooler and there is adequate fruit supply. It is uncertain if one pair breeds twice in two separate locations, or if some members nest early and some late, in different habitats. (Ref: Birds of the World). For an example of early breeding, in March of 2019 a breeding pair nested in the far eastern end of Agua Caliente Park, right next to the utility yards. I was able to find one clear viewing lane that put me well away from the nest and out of sight, yet offered a clear path to mom and her nestlings. Below, mom sitting on ther nest. Canon 7D Mk II, EF100-400mm with 1.4x Mk III Ext. at 560mm, 1/100 sec., f/8.0, ISO 250, +0.67 EV. on a tripod. Below, mom looks down at a hungry chick. I was only able to identify one nestling, although there could have been a second off to the side. I was set up well away from the action on a tripod. Mom started this feeding run with a clump of insects. Protein first for a growing chick! Above, mom pauses, then below hacks up a berry she has stored in her crop. Almost certainly a mistletoe berry that is abundant on trees in the park. Above and below, mom feeds her nestling. Above, she pauses and below brings up a second berry. Yahoo! Two scoops for dessert! The images above are from my archive, and were posted in April of 2019, 6 years ago, with the title, Fast Food for a Phainopepla Hatchling: Entree and Dessert (with "two scoops") in 10 seconds. Let's finish up this section with images of an unusual male Phainopepla who by local reports wintered repeatedly in Sabino Canyon around the time of the photographs below, 2016. This male is partially leucistic, a genetic mutation where the bird lacks melanin in certain areas, in this case the top the head and crest, creating a striking appearance. Note that the bird has the usual white wing patches, seen in the second photo, below and right. Partial leucism is in contrast to albinism, where there is a complete lack of melanin. (Ref: Bird Leucism, Avian Report). Yellow-rumped WarblerCanon R5 Mk II, RF100-500mm at 500mm, 1/2000 sec., f/8.0, ISO 1000,+0 EV.
Yellow-rumped Warblers molt twice a year, once after breeding in the summer and a second time beginning in January on their wintering grounds in preparation for breeding. The western Audubon variant sports a yellow throat, yellow streak on the head, yellow patches on the flanks, and a yellow rump. The yellow-rump accounts for the common nickname, "butter butt." Males and females are similar, although females may be more muted. This time of year the males are strikingly brilliant. Below at a suet feeder in our mid-town backyard this past week, we see three warblers, two Yellow-rumped Warblers on the left, with a Yellow Warbler sitting on the right. My guess is that the Yellow-rumps are probably both males. Canon R5 Mk II, RF100-500mm at 118mm, 1/4000 sec., f/7.14, ISO 1250,+0 EV. The suet/nuts mixture is popular.* In the images above and below, the upper male Yellow-rumped dives down for his share of the food showing off his breeding plumage including the bright yellow rump. The male below shows off his yellow throat and flanks. * The mixture consists of ground peanuts, rendered suet, soy meal, dried mealworms, raisins, cherries and calcium. It is made by The Wild Bird Store at 3160 E. Ft. Lowell, in the shopping center on the SE corner of E. Ft. Lowell and Country Club, in the Winterhaven area. The male on the feeder stands his ground, and his competitor eventually gives up his approach. The male at the feeder appears to get quite vocal! Note that the Yellow Warbler on the far side is oblivious to the ruckus. Birds are born to do four things: Eat (find food), don't get eaten (avoid predators), make more birds (breed), and molt! In addition to avoiding predators, birds will spend much time and energy fending off competitors, who compete for food, lodging (nesting sites), and mates. The minor kerfuffle seen here appears to be over food, but likely also over dominance during breeding season. For the photo geeks: This series was shot on April 10th at 5:30pm in my backyard with the sun low in the sky. The house was casting a rapidly advancing shadow. The intruder dove into the shadow, while the intrepid suet defender stayed in the sun. There was not much I could do about the lighting! Wilson's WarblerCanon R5 Mk II, RF100-500mm at 500mm, 1/1250 sec., f/8.0, ISO 10000,+0.33 EV.
Wilson's Warblers migrate through all of the lower 48 states, including Arizona, where we see them in the fall on Mt Lemmon, and in the spring in the valley, wherever there is food! Above and below this male frantically hops from branch to branch for food, grabbing something in his mouth in the process. This sequence of 8 images were shot over a span of 6 seconds. For a review of warblers, worldwide and local, see my post from November 2020, Mt Lemmon October Wrap-up: Warblers, Woodpeckers, Vireos, and a Brown Creeper comes out of hiding. For the photo geeks: This series was shot early in the morning in deep shadows, accounting for the high ISO. Lucy's WarblerCanon R5 Mk II, RF100-500mm at 500mm, 1/2000 sec., f/8.0, ISO 2500,+0 EV.
Below, three images of a male Lucy's in my backyard in midtown Tucson in June of 2021. We can see the cinnamon crown patch and rump in this series, shot in the late afternoon against a distant shaded background that fades to black with one stop of underexposure. Canon R6 Mk II, EF100-400mm at 500mm, 1/500 sec., f/8.0, ISO 800, -1 EV. And, just in case you were wondering who the other cavity nesting warbler is . . . . The only other warbler that nests in cavities is . . . . |
In contrast to the Lucy's, the Prothonotary Warbler has a large, heavy body with a big head and bill. The legs and tail are considered shorter than most warblers. They live in wet areas, such as flooded bottomland forests, wooded swamps and forests near lakes and streams, eating a variety of insects, as well as snails and mollusks. They breed in the eastern U.S., wintering to the south in wet coastal areas down into South America. The image above was captured in Panama in the Bocas del Toro region in March of 2024. I have also spotted them on migration in Magee Marsh Wildlife Area in NW Ohio in May of 2022. |
Hooded Oriole
Let's finish up with the Hooded Oriole, another denizen of the southwestern U.S. and Mexico. The Hooded Oriole winters in coastal Mexico and breeds in southern Texas, Baja California, Arizona and California. Sometime referred to as "palm-leaf orioles," they "sew" their hanging nests to the undersides of palm fronds. (Ref: All About Birds). Their range has extended north as commercial developments plant more palm trees. They eat spiders and insects as well as fruit, nectar from flowering plants and hummingbird feeders. The males are bright yellow with a black throat that extends around the eye. The females are olive-yellow overall with grayer backs. |
Stay tuned - I have a trip to the Chiricahuas scheduled for next week!
Happy trails!
This is the first of two posts on spring at Agua Caliente, this one focused on two species that I recently captured in the air over Pond 1.
Neotropic Cormorant
In North America there are six cormorant species, including the Neotropic, Tucson's "home team", a regular on lakes and ponds throughout the year. Neotropics live year round in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and south throughout Mexico, Central and South America. They were active in the air and on Pond 1 on March 22, 2025.
Above, a male or female (they look alike) circling the pond. Below, preparing for a landing.
Below, our subject stalls just above the water, tail down, webbed feet out in front.
Below, a Neotropic Cormorant drys off at Agua Caliente on July 20, 2017.
As noted earlier, Neotropic Cormorants live year round in Arizona, New Mexico, southern Texas and all the way into South America. The range map at right clearly shows the extensive range to the south of the U.S. border. In the U.S., the biggest breeding populations are in Texas. One of the best spots to see them in action each spring is the Rookery at Smith Oaks Bird Sanctuary at High Island, Texas. Below, a single Neotropic Cormorant nests among a crowd of Great Egrets at the rookery. |
For more on spring migration on the Texas coast, See Birding Hotspots, Texas Coast.
Below, a male and female Neotropic Cormorant at their nest at the rookery with their fledglings.
Next, for completeness, let's look at the Double-crested Cormorant and 4 of his cousins . . . .
The Double-crested Cormorant gets its name from two distinct tufts of long white feathers, one above each eye, which appear only in breeding season, evident in the image below captured at the La Jolla Cove in January of 2018. In addition to the feather tufts in breeding season, the Double-crested Cormorant's bare yellow skin extends above and around the eye, evident in both photographs.
The Great Cormorant lives along the Atlantic coast, the Red-faced on the Alaska coast, with the Pelagic living along the Pacific Coast up into Alaska and west to coastal Asia. Brandt's cormorant lives on the west coast from Baja, Mexico up to the Alaska Coast.
Below, an image of a Brandt's Cormorant sitting on his/her nest at La Jolla Cove in January of 2018. The bird is in breeding plumage with a vivid cobalt-blue throat patch and eyes with wispy feathers on the head. Brandt's Cormorants nest and forage in the California Current and can dive deeper than 200 feet in pursuit of fish and shellfish.
Violet-green Swallow
Violet-green Swallows winter in southern Mexico and Central America, breeding in the U.S. west of the Rocky Mountains all the way north into Alaska. Violet-green Swallows nest in open woodlands, favoring areas with dead trees with woodpecker holes or natural cavities. Violet-green Swallows may nest as high as 11,500 feet, so it is not surprising that a pair was nesting near the Meadow Trail on the top of Mt. Lemmon, (~9000 feet altitude) in early May, 2020. The meadow was perfect for them, with lots of open air for foraging to the south toward Tucson, and lots of nesting holes in dead trees on the Oracle side. Below, likely a female, perched on a snag not far from her nest. |
Colors in bird feathers are created by pigments, either carotenoids (red to yellow) or melanins (black to gray to brown to buff), combined with structural colors generated by the reflection of light off of specialized microscopic features of the feather. There is no blue pigment in bird feathers, rather blue is a structural color. Since violet is a combination of red and blue, it is possible that the rump color is a combination of pigments (carotenoids for red) along with structural color (for blue). If the angle of light is right (or wrong) red (pigment) may dominate over blue (structural) creating a red rump. (Ref: Sibley, What it is like to be a bird.)
Stay tuned, busy breeding season ahead!
Happy trails!
SWW is a hotspot for birding, especially during the cooler winter months. To facilitate wetlands management the City of Tucson conducted two controlled burns in late 2024 and since then the ponds have been gradually refilled. The area is beautiful right now with excellent views across the wetlands and a lot of bird activity.
The photograph above is a male Wilson's Warbler feeding in the understory on January 21st. Below a view of the main entry point to the wetlands on January 23rd.
Greater Roadrunner
* This post is about Sweetwater Wetlands, but I have taken the liberty of adding some of my favorite archive photographs from other locations.
Greater Roadrunners are cuckoos (Family: Cuculidae), living year round in the southern U.S. from California to Texas and in northern Mexico. Roadrunners are especially adapted to desert living, eating anything they can catch including small mammals, reptiles, frogs, toads, insects, centipedes, scorpions, and birds. They will catch and eat poisonous prey including rattlesnakes, lizards and scorpions. For more on other members of the cuckoo family, see my recent posts from Panama on the Squirrel Cuckoo [Bocas Del Toro, Panama, March 2024: Part 2, Water] and the Mangrove Cuckoo [Bocas Del Toro, Panama, March 2024: Part 3, Tropical Forest].
Below is a an image of a roadrunner at SWW in November 2018 adjacent to W. Sweetwater Drive. We can see the tail feathers separated. Greater Roadrunners are fast runners at 15 mph and able to outrun people but are slower than their nemesis, the coyote, who clocks at 30 mph. Greater Roadrunners do not fly, rather they use their feathers for some lift when they jump.
To the right is a chart from the website weatherspark.com showing the temperatures for January 23rd. At 7 am it was down to 24 degrees! By 10 am it was up to 45 degrees. It is important to warm up after a cold night, and save calories at the same time. |
Winter is a Good Time for Sparrows . . .
Let's start with: Lincoln's Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrows live throughout North America, breed to the north from Alaska to eastern Canada, and winter along the Pacific coast and southern U.S., down into Mexico. Arizona is in their non-breeding winter territory. They sport medium sized, crisp streaks, a small bill, pale eye-ring, and a buffy wash across the breast. Merlin's #1 choice for these images is the Lincoln's Sparrow, with the Song Sparrow being #2. Based on the eye-ring, small bill, fine streaking, buff wash on the breast, and the short tail (image below), I favor the Lincoln's. |
White-crowned Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrows breed to the far north and winter throughout the lower U.S. and Mexico. They are seen in Tucson in abundance during the winter. The bird above was captured at SWW on January 23rd, and is most likely an immature with rusty brown stripes on a gray head. Below, an image captured near the Rillito River on January 23, 2019, exactly 6 years earlier! This is a typical mature bird with dark stripes on the head and behind the eye. |

Brewer's Sparrow
Brewer's Sparrows also breed as far north as Alaska, but west of the Rocky Mountains. They winter in the SW U.S. and down into central Mexico. To the right see the range map from Cornell's All About Birds. Brewer's are breeding specialists, dependent on the sagebrush ecosystem for breeding, thus they are seen in the arid west and found almost nowhere else. In winter they form mixed flocks with other sparrows. The image above was not from SWW, but its "doppelganger" El Rio Preserve in Marana, January 19, 2025. |
Black-throated Sparrow
Here is our fourth sparrow, a local, the Black-throated Sparrow. From the archive, the image above was captured in Sabino Canyon, December 2, 2024, and the image below at the base of Madera Canyon, near the Proctor parking lot, on August 4, 2024. Black-throated Sparrows are sharp dressers, with gray faces set off by bold white stripes and a black triangular patch on the throat. |
Wilson's Warbler
On January 21st, I spotted this male Wilson's Warbler, bright yellow with a black cap, hopping about in the understory at SWW. He stopped long enough for me to capture these images. Wilson's breed in Alaska and Canada, as well as the Pacific Northwest and coastal California, wintering on the Texas coast and Mexico. Like two-thirds of warblers, Wilson's eats insects, migrating south to "follow the food." So, what is he doing in Tucson in January? It seems unlikely that this male is wintering here, and it is late to be migrating south. |
For more on migrating warblers, see these posts from last fall, Warblers on the Mountain, Fall 2024, Part I and [Both images are clickable links.] Warblers on the Mountain, Fall 2024, Part II. | Painted Redstart Hermit Warbler |
Great Egret
Finally! A water bird! Yes, there are egrets and herons at Sweetwater Wetlands! For more on the Herons and Egrets, Family Ardeidae, Order Pelecaniformes, see my post from March of 2021, Winter in SE Arizona, It's for the Birds . . . . or click on the image of the Black-crowned Night-Heron to the right. |
Below, from Agua Caliente, the same bird striking a pose while preening, standing on one leg.
Snowy Egret
Green Heron
On this day, I did not see the Green Heron find his lunch, however, I did on September 2017. Click on the link below, or the image to the right to see how quickly a Green Heron can swallow a whole frog! "I can't believe he ate the whole thing", Part II |
Northern Harrier
(Wait - did you say Northern Harrier?)
Happy trails!
Agua Caliente Park is a Pima County park on the far east side of Tucson in the Tanque Verde Valley. For more on the park and prior posts see Mt Lemmon AZ Images Search: Agua Caliente.
The park has recently benefited from a series of restorations: First the ponds, then areas of fire damage from a lightening strike in 2022. Below on the left, a view of the new bridge to a small island on the restored Pond 1, nearest the ranch house and parking lot. Below to the right, Pond 1 looking southwest from the island. A great place for egrets and herons, with occasional Harris's Hawks flying through looking for lunch!
And now, Western Bluebirds!
Canon R5 Mk II, RF 100-500mm with 1.4x Ext. at 700mm, 1/1200 sec.,/10, ISO 800, +0.33 EV.
Western Bluebirds (WEBL's) are small thrushes that live in the western United States and central Mexico. They are medium distance migrants, often living in one area year round. In SE Arizona Western Bluebirds breed on the sky islands, including Mt. Lemmon, and winter at lower elevations, including Tucson. In the summer they eat insects, but during the winter switch to fruit and seeds. This dietary flexibility allows the bird to stay in one locale throught the year, in contrast to most warblers whose unwavering insect diet requires them to "follow the food" south into Mexico each fall. |
During my limited time observing WEBL's at Agua Caliente over 3 days, I noticed that they would take flight to move to new sections of a tree, rather than the progressive hopping common among warblers. The bird in this sequence has relocated to a higher part of this mesquite.
Birds do not have blue pigment in their feathers. Instead, structural properties of the feathers make them blue. The Western Bluebird's blue feathers have a spongy matrix of microscopic air pockets. These pockets or channels are at a fixed standard distance to each other so that light waves reflected off of the pockets will reinforce for the blue spectrum, and cancel out other wavelengths. The feather will look blue from any angle of reflected light, but if held up to transmitted light it will look gray. (Ref: David Allen Sibley, What It's Like to be a Bird, Knopf, N.Y., 2020, p.133)

Next, "the Blue Bird of Happiness . . . . ."
The list of references to bluebirds in modern popular culture includes the Wizard of Oz ("Somewhere over the rainbow, blue birds fly"), the Beatles Yellow Submarine (the chief blue meanie claims his "cousin is the bluebird of happiness"), the Allman Brother Band's song Blue Sky, ("Don't fly, mister blue bird, I'm just walking down the road"), and in a cartoon from Gary Larson, (the [absent] bluebird of happiness is mentioned as counterpart of the "chicken of depression.") For much, much more, see Wikipedia, Bluebird of happiness.
So, may the Western Bluebird, and in fact all blue birds, be your companions in 2025, bringing you peace and well being throughout the year!
Special thanks to Jeff Babson for his help in identifying the sexes of this mix of winter birds! Greatly appreciated!
Stay safe and stay well.
More soon!
I have been back to WWD numerous times since, my last visit was on a trek with Club Camera Tucson* on November 21st. Below and to the right is a map of WWD from Adobe Lightroom showing the spots where I shot most of the images (orange and yellow squares).
*For the photo/camera geeks: this is a great club, nice people, fun stuff to share and do. Check out the website.
Northern Harrier: November 2024
In the image above she is flying to the east of the eastern trail, facing the sun, and looking for prey in the fields below. Here facial disk is evident.
She cruised over the eastern fields for about 20-30 minutes, then decided to fly west, making a close pass in front of the observation deck where I was standing. I was shooting at 700mm and literally had less than 2 seconds to try to track her as she came in very close flying right to left.
Northern Harriers are in the family Accipitridae: hawks, eagles and kites. Harriers are most similar to Rough-legged Hawks, Cooper's Hawks and American Goshawks but are unique in their family for the predilection to hover low over their prey.
Below, she has come around flying toward me. She has two white eyebrows clearly visible as she looks down at 90 degrees looking and listening for ground mammals, as well as other birds including meadowlarks, Northern Cardinals and sparrows, all part of her winter diet.
In the image below one can see her alula clearly on the left wing. The alula, also known as the "bastard thumb," is a small group of feathers that grow from the bird's equivalent of our thumb, at the junction of the fused hand bones and the ulna/radius. It can be deployed like slats on an airplane, to break up the airflow and improve lift at slow speeds. It is common to see the alula deployed as large birds land.
Northern Harriers live throughout North America, nesting in the northern U.S., Canada and Alaska, wintering in the southern U.S. including SE Arizona as well as Mexico and portions of Central and South America. On their wintering grounds, they are hard to spot up close, usually hunting on distant stretches of fields. However at WWD, the viewing area near water surrounded by fields improves the odds of getting closer to a hovering harrier. It is always a privilege and a pleasure to see them on a hunt. |
Sandhill Cranes . . . .
For more on White Water Draw, background information, maps, and prior posts, see Birding Hotspots on the tabs at the top of this page, or click on the picture to the right. |
Happy trails!
As SE Arizona moves from summer into fall, our "birds of winter" start returning. One of our birding hotspots right now is El Rio Preserve in Marana, just a short trip north on I-10 from Tucson. See the map to the right. Take the W. Twin Peaks Road exit off of I-10, head west to Coachline Blvd, turn right and follow the road to El Rio Preserve. |
Lazuli Bunting
On September 26th I was surprised to find a male Lazuli Bunting in non-breeding (winter) plumage basking in the sun, image above. For comparison, to the right is a male in full breeding plumage with a bright lazuli-blue head, captured in Portal, AZ, in May of 2016. Winter plumage is more subtle, but to my eye more elegant with the varied colors woven together on the chest and back. Lazuli Buntings are in the Cardinal family, breeding in the northwest U.S. and wintering in Mexico. They begin their fall molt like most birds, on their breeding grounds, then move to the southwest U.S. to feed on abundant monsoon insects and finish the molt in these "molting hotspots" before moving further south for the winter. The bird I saw at El Rio in September is likely a traveler, maybe on his molting grounds, getting ready to head further south for the winter. Lazuli Buntings eat insects, fruit and seeds, and will come to feeders, especially those filled with white proso millet. (Ref: All About Birds) |
Verdin
The Verdin is an active songbird of the southwest U.S. and Mexico, living year round on their territories. They are prodigious nest builders, building spherical nests for breeding, and flat roosting nests for the winter months. For more on the Verdin and their nesting habits, click on the image below. |
American Kestrel
The American Kestrel is North America's smallest falcon, roughly the size and shape of a Mourning Dove. They are birds of prey, often seen perching on wires or posts over open areas looking for small rodents and other birds, as well as insects and other invertebrates. (Ref: All About Birds). They live year round in North and South America, with Northern populations migrating into Canada and Alaska to breed. The male has slate blue wings and head, the female has reddish brown wings. Both sexes sport a vertical slash on a pale face. |
American Kestrels are fun to watch in flight. On New Year's day, 2018, I spotted a female kestrel sitting on a high fence post at Ft. Lowell Park. She dove for the ground, and I caught her just as she approached a "mole hole." Alas, she came up empty. To see/read the full blog post, click on the image to the right! |
Belted Kingfisher
Belted Kingfishers eat mostly fish, diving into rivers and ponds and grabbing their prey with their long stocky bills. They breed to the north, and winter in the SW U.S. and Mexico/Central America. See the range map to the right. The Kingfisher shown above and below is a female, similar to the male but with the addition of a rusty band on the white chest/abdomen. She is perched above the pond, looking for something to eat. |
Looks like an Olympic swan dive, except she can fly, and of course, she is a Kingfisher, not a Swan!
Vermilion Flycatcher
Vermilion Flycatchers are members of the Family Tyrannidae, or the "Tyrant Flycatchers." They are year round residents of SE Arizona, Mexico and Central America, see the range map to the right. For new birders from almost anywhere in the U.S., these are "life birds," seen for the first time here. Those of us who live in Southern Arizona are lucky to have them with us year round, anywhere there are insects! |
In the photos above and below, a Vermilion Flycatcher perches on sign looking for insects.
Reminder: Don't release pets, squirrels, or pack-rats in any park, or dump fish/wildlife aquariums in any pond. Invasive species upset the natural balance, and can quickly overtake an environment.
Flycatchers often run a "route" from perch to perch when they find a good spot for insects. For viewing or photographing them, be patient and wait, and the flycatcher may come back to the same perch again. In this case, the "Fragile Ecosystem" sign was part of his route, and I photographed him launching from the site repeatedly. I suspect the angle of the sun in relation to the perch made bugs more visible.
Green Heron
Green Herons winter in SE Arizona and central Mexico/South America, breeding in the U.S. east of the Rockies, with year round populations along the southern Pacific and Atlantic coasts. See the range map to the right. Green Herons are short and stocky with a deep green back and chestnut neck and breast. The crown can be raised into a short crest, which we see in the series below. |
In the series that follows, we see a Green Heron in flight, with the crest raised. Whereas in a sitting position they look very formal and composed (see lead photo), in the air they are more disheveled, looking a bit like a mad scientist trying a pair of wings for the first time!
Spotted Sandpiper
Rock Wren
Let's end with a nondescript bird that lives throughout the desert southwest, on and in rocks, not the places we usually go looking for birds! Rock Wrens constantly hop around rocky areas investigating nooks and crannies for insects and spiders, surviving in relatively bleak desert settings. The bird above was perched on a sign at El Rio, and I got the ID with the help of Merlin. The image below, a better view in better lighting, was captured close to the Meadow Trail on Mt Lemmon in July of 2023, sitting on, yes, rocks! |
Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy trails!
Fall comes every year and this blog is now 9 years old. 9 falls. 9 falls which are really very, very similar from an avian perspective. So this post is really a review, a fall revival if you will, with some new images, and hopefully a new perspective, but with links to three prior fall posts, which should provide more depth and a slightly different perspective.
Birds in the fall have breeding and molting behind them, and now need to work on finding food. Predators are always a risk, but in the scramble to gather calories, the other threat, competitors, looms large. Enter the Steller's Jay . . . . .
But first, Acorn Woodpeckers.
Acorn Woodpeckers store up for the coming winter.
Acorn Woodpeckers live year round in the Pacific Northwest and all the way south to Columbia, South America. The only migratory population is a small one in the Huachuca Mountains here is SE Arizona where there are not enough acorns to store for the winter, necessitating migration into the Sierra Madre in Mexico. Acorn Woodpeckers live in large communities, sharing many functions, including rearing the young and gathering and storing food. |
For more on Acorn Woodpeckers putting up supplies for the winter and rotating their stock, see this post: October 2019 on Mt Lemmon. The photo to the right is from the post, and is a live link, click on the title above or on the photo to go to the link. |
The woodpecker below has grabbed a peanut, and is ready to take off.
For the photo geeks: All the images from 2024 were shot with a Canon R5 Mark II with the electronic shutter at ~30 frames/second, in the Pre-capture mode. This feature constantly records 1/2 second of images prior to the shutter being fully depressed. For birds, 1/2 second is just about right, allowing for the photographer's reaction time. The full sequence of shots shown here was 22 images over 1 second or less. I edited them down to these three.
We know this is a male because the bright white forehead meets the red cap in a straight line. The female has a black band between the forehead and the cap.
Below, a female has a peanut on one of her favorite perches above the feeder, and gets ready for work!
Although collecting and storing food is a key activity in October, it takes energy, and eating enough is essential. So raiding the harvest is acceptable. Birds need to be at top weight and strength going into the winter.
Steller's Jays like peanuts too . . . . .
Steller's Jays are year round residents of the mountainous west, from the islands off of Alaska down to Central America. Range map is to the right. They were first described by Georg Steller, a German naturalist traveling on a Russian explorer's ship in 1741. Steller's Jays are opportunistic foragers, eating almost anything they can find, including seeds, nuts, and other bird's eggs and nestlings. They are a dominant predator of the Western/Cordilleran Flycatchers who breed on Mt. Lemmon. |
In August of 2018 I put out some peanuts in the shell to see who would come in to feed. I caught a Steller's Jay grabbing a peanut and very carefully burying it beneath a layer of pine needles on the ground, then marking the site by placement of a rock! For more on this adventure see the post from August 2018: A Steller's Jay and a Peanut: Saving for the future in Summerhaven. |
So during the peanut buffet on October 11th, while the Acorns converted our mountain backyard to a cafeteria line, one Steller's Jay sat off to the side, waiting for his chance. Although Steller's Jays will forage slowly and methodically, in this case our jay decided to take the "plunge and grab" approach, sitting on the feeder pole until the time was right, and then diving for the peanut. He did this repeatedly.
Above our jay is perched, below he dives for the goodies.
For the photo geeks: This series was captured with a Canon R5 Mark II, electronic shutter on Pre-capture mode. The whole sequence took 2 seconds or less.
Acorns can be very aggressive with potential predators. In April of 2021 we were in Cave Creek Canyon in the Chiricahua Mountains getting photos of birds at the Sunny Flat Campground (The Chiricahua Mountains and Cave Creek Canyon April 2021: Part III, Sunny Flat). We captured a Cooper's Hawk on the prowl in the low understory when suddenly two to five Acorn Woodpeckers mobbed the Cooper's and drove him north out of the canyon. They pursued him for some distance. Unfortunately I was not able to get photos of the pursuit.
For more on an Acorn-Steller face off over peanuts see the post from September 2022, September: The Acorn Woodpecker and the Steller's Jay Getting Ready for Winter . . . . . |
Happy Trails!
During our summer rainy season, the monsoon, local birds are breeding as are residents of Mexico and Central America who just barely make it north over the border to nest in the U.S. becoming RARE BIRDS. So, Southwest Wings runs a festival in late July and early August, followed by Tucson Audubon a week later.
From July 31st to August 2nd we ventured out with SW Wings and Richard Fray for a three day, two night trek to find some of our summer visitors amid a bit of rain and some muddy roads! We had a great time with great people.
Of all the species we saw, here are the highlights. Let's start with one of the stars of the show, the Five-striped Sparrow.
To keep you oriented, below is a map of our tour generated by Adobe's Lightroom with my annotations showing the location of all of the images in this post.
Note that this was a three day van trip, starting and ending in Sierra Vista. We did our two overnights at the Rancho Santa Cruz*, on the Santa Cruz River, just south of Tumacacori. Photo (in the rain!) to the right. * Highly recommended! Many thanks to our hosts Susan and Peter! |
Five-striped Sparrow
This large sparrow actually has seven stripes, a white one over each eye, and five alternating black and white stripes below a thick bill, with a thin white crescent below each eye. Underparts are mostly gray and white, with a black central breast spot. In the U.S. the species favors dense, thorny vegetation on dry hillsides. This year Five-stripped Sparrows were spotted in California Gulch, very remote and very close to the border, as well as Box Canyon, on the road from Madera Canyon east to Sonoita. The breeding population in the U.S. is considered among the smallest of any bird in the country (Ref: All About Birds). Five-striped Sparrows feed on insects, mostly moths and caterpillars, with some nuts and berries. They nest in a shrub or on the ground. | Above, a range map from All About Birds, Cornell Lab. These sparrows are year round residents of Mexico, with a small population in Arizona. |
The third day of the trip, August 2nd, we spotted Five-striped Sparrows in Box Canyon, east of Madera Canyon in open grassland on the road east to Sonoita. To the right, a view looking west down Box Canyon. Below, a Five-Stripped Sparrow posing for a portrait. This is likely a male. |
And below, calling, "Hey, I am up here, with the birders!"
Blue Grosbeak
Blue Grosbeaks are vibrantly blue buntings with a large silver bill and chestnut wingbars. The males are blue, the females cinnamon with brown wingbars. Blue Grosbeaks are considered long-distance migrants, wintering in southern Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, breeding across the lower U.S., including Arizona. Birds breeding in the eastern U.S. probably migrate across the Gulf of Mexico. They feed on insects, especially grasshoppers and crickets, but will eat snails and seeds of wild and cultivated grains. |
Rose-throated Becard
+0 EV.
Above, a female Rose-throated Becard near its nest just east of Patagonia along Harshaw Road (see tour map at the top of this post). The male is likely nearby, but was not spotted this day. Rose-throated Becards are in the tropical and subtropical family Tityridae. They are the only members of this family that enter the United States as non-vagrants where they breed on an irregular basis along the southern borders of Arizona and Texas. The species favors wooded riparian habitats dominated by cottonwoods, where they nest in bulky, messy, domed nests that are suspended from the drooping ends of small branches, with an entrance near the bottom. |
Below, mama takes a break from her nest duties to preen in the sun, including an occasional scratch.
Violet-crowned Hummingbird
On the morning of July 31st, before venturing west to California Gulch, we stopped in Patagonia where the Rose-throated Becard was spotted along Harshaw Road. We then stopped at the Tucson Audubon's Paton Center for Hummingbirds where we spotted this Violet-crowned Hummingbird. Like the Five-striped Sparrow and Rose-throated Becard, the Violet-crowned Hummingbird lives most of the year in Mexico, with a breeding range that just crosses into the U.S. in southern Arizona and New Mexico. With no gorget, the Violet-crowned Hummingbird is white on the underside, with a brilliant violet crown and neck. The bill is red with a black tip. |
Broad-billed Hummingbird
The Broad-billed Hummingbird is another species that lives most of the year toward the south, venturing over the border in the summer to breed. They are common in Tucson and Mt. Lemmon, as well as Patagonia and Madera Canyon. The bill is broad when seen up close and at the correct angle, but what is striking is the red bill with the black tip. The image above is a male with a blue throat, greenish/blue belly (just hitting the light correctly) and a notched tail. This image was captured at the Santa Rita Lodge in Madera Canyon on August 1st. The images below were shot at the Paton Center for Hummingbirds in Patagonia on July 31st. |
Some species can lay back and "chill" while molting, a process that requires a lot of energy. For example, Canada Geese are vegetarians eating a wide variety of grasses, as well as some seeds and fruits in the fall. They can eat and molt without doing much else. However, other birds, including the hummingbird, need to fly to eat, and the molting process literally occurs "on the wing" in a sequential fashion that allows flight to continue. A bit like changing tires on an 18-wheeler without pulling over to the side of the road!
Below we see that one of the flight feathers on the left wing, likely a secondary, has been lost with a new feather coming in. The variation in color of the contour feathers that cover the body may be a consequence of molting, or the bird's angle to the sun, or a combination of both.
For more on molting see these posts: Cardinals Molting in August: a Pre-Halloween Tragicomedy and Birds are Born to Do 4 things; Eat, Don't Get Eaten, Make More Birds, and MOLT!
Black-throated Sparrow
Black-throated Sparrows are one of the sharpest dressers around, sporting a gray face offset by bold white stripes and a black triangular patch on the throat. They live year round in portions of the southern U.S. and northern Mexico, with some populations going north into the western U.S. to breed. They favor open shrubby deserts. The bird above was spotted at Madera Canyon near the Proctor Trailhead in the low understory. Black-throated Sparrows eat insects and seeds, foraging off of the ground, near or under shrubs or cacti. They nest in low shrubs, often on the north or east side to maximize morning sun and afternoon shade. (Ref: All About Birds) |
Rufous-winged Sparrow
Rounding out our sparrow collection, we have the Rufous-winged Sparrow, another bird whose range is primarily Mexico with a bump just over the border into Arizona. This bird was spotted in East Sahuarita, just north of Green Valley, on August 1st. Like other species, the Rufous-winged Sparrow starts breeding with the arrival of the monsoon. Their love of rain is such that a heavy winter rain may prompt a second breeding cycle in the spring. Pairs bond for life, and will remain on territory year round. They are ground foragers eating mostly seeds, insects, and spiders but will also forage in the understory and catch insects in flight. |
Prairie Dog Colony at Empire Ranch
Prairie Dogs build extensive underground colonies housing multiple family groups. They are considered a keystone species, with their mounds often being used by other species. In addition, mound building encourages grass development and renewal of topsoil. Their underground tunnels bring rain to the undersoil, reducing runoff. For more on this important species, and the value it brings to the prairie, see this entry in Wikipedia: Prairie Dog.
Swainson's Hawk
We were almost back to Sierra Vista when we spotted a Swainson's Hawk overhead. Swainson's Hawks winter in Argentina, then migrate thousands of miles north to breed throughout the western U.S., Canada, and Alaska. Some populations may travel over 12,000 miles per year! During breeding season they will feed their young the "three r's" of the buteo diet: rodents, rabbits, and reptiles. However in the "off season" they will switch to a diet of insects, especially grasshoppers and dragonflies. (Ref: All About Birds). |
Stay tuned.
Happy Trails!
As our summer residents leave, we are greeted by warblers who breed to the north but may stop over in the village for food and water on their way south for the winter.
Let's start with three species who summer in the same northern regions and often migrate together, the Black-throated Gray Warbler, the Hermit Warbler, and the Townsend's Warbler.
Black-throated Gray Warbler
Black-throated Gray warblers have gray backs, a black throat, and a small spot of yellow above and in front of the eye. The yellow spot is a key field mark that identifies the birds as they forage for insects on trees and shrubs in the mid to lower levels of the forest. The range map to the right shows that they winter in Mexico (blue), breed in the western U.S. (orange), and migrate between the two (yellow). Although they might be nesting in the Catalinas, I have not spotted them earlier in the season. Nesting pairs will likely be on horizontal branches of firs, oaks, or pinyon pines, 3 to 35 feet off of the ground. Skilled breeders make their nests hard to find! |
Hermit Warbler
Hermit Warblers have a more restricted breeding area, concentrated in the Pacific Northwest. Their migration is longer. Hermit Warblers are close relatives of the Townsend's, and the two species hybridize where they share ranges in Washington and Oregon. They eat insects, and nest in trees, usually high in the canopy. Males have bright yellow faces with a black eye, females have a paler yellow face and a yellow chin. The individual photographed here is most likely a female. |
*Cornell's All About Birds attributes the bird's name, Hermit, to their preference for the high canopy summer and winter, although they are gregarious and in full evidence to us on migration.
Townsend's Warbler
Our third traveler on the avian highway is the Townsend's Warbler, named after the naturalist John Kirk Townsend who collected a male bird near the mouth of the Columbia River in April of 1835, thirty years after the Louis and Clark Expedition. Townsend's Warblers are long range migrants, breeding in the Pacific Northwest, NW Canada and parts of Alaska, and wintering in Mexico and Central America. For breeding they prefer old-growth forests with extensive understory, nesting in conifers. On migration they feed in various woodlands and thickets, including suburban parks. |
The image above was captured on August 25, 2024, in Summerhaven near Sabino Creek. The image below was captured a year ago, October 29, 2023, toward the end of the fall in Summerhaven.
Grace's Warbler
Grace's Warblers are inhabitants of mature pine and pine-oak forests in mountainous regions, winter and summer. They migrate north in the spring for the forests of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah, wintering in Mexico and Central America. This bird is likely migrating south for the winter. They eat insects (beetles, flies, dragonflies, caterpillars) and spiders which they gather in the upper branches of mature pine trees, and to a lesser extent in oak trees. |
Nashville Warbler
The Nashville Warbler is yellow with a gray back and hood and striking bold white eye-rings. In contrast to Grace's Warbler, they favor shrubby tangles and regrowing forests, giving them lots of living options in a changing world. They winter coast to coast in Mexico, breed to the north in New England, Canada and in the Pacific Northwest. In spite of their name, they are only in Nashville on migration, where they were first spotted and by Alexander Wilson in 1811. It is great to see them on Mt. Lemmon. |
Mountain Chickadee
Let's end with a non-warbler who lives year round from northern Canada to the desert Southwest, the Mountain Chickadee. Mountain Chickadees live in evergreen forests of Western Mountains, with a preference for conifers. The one exception is nesting season, when these cavity nesters look for the soft wood of Aspens for excavation or existing holes made by other birds, or nest boxes. Mountain Chickadees eat insects and spiders during warm months, but can shift to seeds and nuts when insects are not available. This flexibility in diet accounts for their year round residence in some of our colder climes. |
That's all for now. More coming soon.
Happy trails!
Painted Redstarts Get Ready to Head South for the Winter.

Painted Redstarts are warblers who live year round in oak-pine forests and woodlands of Mexico, with some members migrating a short way north into Arizona and New Mexico to breed. They eat primarily insects either gleaned from tree leaves, or caught on the fly, and nest in the ground, often in cavities on slopes. The Painted Redstart shown above and below was spotted looking for food on August 25th in the dense understory over the creek in Summerhaven, directly across from the Cookie Cabin. |
The Cornell Lab's Birds of the World reports that juvenile Painted Redstarts have black and white wings with gray breasts. However, my guess is that the two birds below are juveniles with red feathers just beginning to come into the breasts.
For the photo geeks: The sequence below was shot with a newly released Canon R5 Mark II set in Pre-Capture mode. With this setting the camera shifted to electronic shutter at ~30 frames/second and recorded each frame to a 1/2 second continuously rotating buffer as long as I kept the shutter partially depressed. Once the action started, I pressed the shutter down completely and the ~15 frames shot over the previous 1/2 second were recorded to the memory card as shooting continued at ~30 frames per second as long as I kept the shutter depressed. This allowed me to wait until the bird took off to press the shutter, knowing that I would get the gap in the action created by my response time. I recorded multiple flight sequences with the lens zoomed back a bit to allow "room" for the bird in flight, and got lucky with the sequence below. The whole sequence took place within one second and the bird stayed in the frame. The camera's autofocus did a good job of sticking to the bird.
Below, he is into the air, the bug now looks like a smudge in the upper right.
Below, he gets closer.
For the photo geeks: In the frame below we can see that the camera's autofocus is following the bird, with the head and eye in focus, but the stump in the background where the bird started now out of focus.
For the photo geeks: On electronic shutter at 1/2000 second, there is no appreciable rolling shutter.
Chances are these birds will return in the spring to nest.
Redfaced Warblers Also Getting Ready to Leave . . . .
Redfaced Warblers winter in southern Mexico migrating north into northern Mexico, southern Arizona and New Mexico to breed. Like the Painted Redstarts, they are insect eaters and ground nesters who prefer the type of riparian habitat we enjoy in Summerhaven and Marshall Gulch. Males and females look alike with the distinctive bright red neck and face with distinctive black markings on the head and cheeks. Above and below, adults looking for food in May 2024 amidst breeding and nesting activities. |
Below, two images of a Red-faced Warbler foraging for insects in the low understory across from the Cookie Cabin on August 25, 2024.
Happy Trails!
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Henry Johnson, photographer and author of this site. For more detail, see About
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