This is my first post on Costa Rica, one of many posts planned!  Stay tuned!

The Resplenent Quetzal is a magnificent bird, with arresting irridescent coloration, and a long uppertail covert feather sported by the male in breeding season. The species lives year round on their territories, although the Costa Rican quetzal will migrate locally within the tropical cloud forest depending on the season. 

We saw and photographed the quetzal at the end of the two week tour with Holbrook Travel, organized by our Tucson photography/birding buddy Jack, and led by the fantastic photographer and workshop leader Emily Carter, (Nature as Art), along with our  outstanding local guide and photographer, Andres Quiros, and of course Holbrook Travel. 

Andres Quiros is on the left bundled up against the pre-dawn chill, and Emily Carter is on the right, leading our group in search of the Magnificent Quetzal. Thanks to them and our fellow travelers, Jack, Linda, Tom, Barbara, Mike, Nancy, D.J., and Laurie, who all made the trip a big success and a lot of fun. And of course, Poppi, our expert bus driver, who negotiated narrow mountain roads with skill!

On November 6th we arose at 4 am (ugh!) for coffee and a short bus ride down the road where we hiked up the side of the mountain valley to a level field adjacent to the forest and wild avocado trees. These trees produce a small fruit that is a quetzal favorite, attracting them first thing in the morning.   

The map below shows our location in the mountains at about 7600 feet above sea level on the Pacific side of the continental divide.

We arrived at our site well before the 6 am sunrise and joined about a dozen other photographers, tripods set up, carefully examining the edge of the dense cloud forest and all the possible Quetzal perches. Finally, about 6:15 am the quetzal alert went out - a male was spotted in an avocado tree. 

Below, a "where's Waldo" photograph of a male Resplendent Quetzal perched behind the leaves. I resorted to manual focus to get the eye as sharp as possible (the autofocus options on my Canon R5 Mark II seemed to find everything but my subject!). 

5 minutes later he hopped out and gave us a nice back shot, below. The males are probably growing out their uppertail covert feathers* now for a breeding season that will begin in a few months. 

The back of the quetzal's head looks similar to the face and throat, a trait many birds share, and likely an adaption that confuses predators. If you think a bird is facing  you, you may be less likely to go on the attack.

* An earlier version of this post incorrectly identified the long feather the male grows in breeding season as a "tail feather" when in fact it is part of the uppertail coverts, the feathers that cover the base of the tail feathers. This makes sense, in that the tail feathers are essential for flight and vary by species, depending on the the nature of their flight, and patterns of acquiring food. The tail coverts contribute to better aerodynamics, and a long decorative feather as part of breeding plumage would logically grow from this group. My thanks to my friend, ornithologist /birder/professional photographer Steve Vaughan for picking this up. Thanks Steve!

Below the male flared his white tail feathers, then took off.

Deep sigh . . not a great quetzal photo day. 
So, we decided to come back the next day for another try.

Up again at 4 am, coffee at 5 am, short drive down the road to the forest and our viewing spot, arriving at ~5:30 am. We were two days past the full moon, with our favorite planetary partner about to disappear over the western ridge of the mountain valley. It provided welcome light for our trek up the hill. 

I was at the back of our group as we we walked uphill, sharing the path with another photographer who whispered in my ear, "Look, a female on the branch above us!"

Sure enough, a female quetzal perched above us, image below.  The females have coloration similar to the males, but a bit more muted, and without the long tail the male grows in breeding season. 

These birds have a definite "cute factor", perhaps due to the short bill and large eyes on an open face. 

This photo was captured at 5:32 am, 30 minutes before sunrise. Definitely low light photography.

5 minutes later I was set up with our group for the morning show, when SUCCESS, a male Resplendent Quetzal was spotted on a perch, likely having just eaten an avocado. The avocados are small (more on this later) with thin flesh over a large pit. The quetzal does not pass the pit, but regurgitates it after digesting the fruit itself. So some digestion time is required. Why fly around with a pit in your stomach (literally!) when you can find a nice perch and wait!

Below, likely the same male on a different perch 40 minutes later and 20 minutes after sunrise in better light. The coloration varies with light and position of the bird, but is almost alway spectatular! Note the long tail dcovert.

Below, the same male 4 minutes later. It is not clear how many avocados a quetzal consumes at one sitting, but we can thank the pits for some great photo ops! 

This male probably barfed up a pit when I was fiddling with my camera settings, and then flew.

More on avocados. What we call avocados are the fruit, really a large berry, of the avocado tree, an evergreen in the laurel family. The avocado tree is common in the Americas, from Mexico through Central and South America. In addition to the cultivated  avocado we enjoy in salads and guacamole, there are many wild varieties that are small, with a relatively large pit in relation to the flesh or fruit. Below, beside the tip of the quetzal's tail, a small avocado on the tree of the same name.

Resplendent Quetzals eat primarily fruit, especially the small avocados seen above. Like other frugivores in Central America they are important agents of seed distribution throughout the forest, facilitating new tree growth.

Below, at 6:53 am, a young male quetzal arrives in a tree close to us. He is likely digesting an avocado.

Image below, mouth open, the seed is most likely on its way to the ground . . . 

And he takes off, looking for more food! 

The Resplendent Quetzal is a sacred symbol in many Mesoamerican cultures, representing freedom, divinity, and rebirth. The species was deeply revered by the Maya and Aztec peoples, a significance that endures today in Guatemala where it is the national bird appearing on the flag and the currency. 

It is difficult to estimate changes in population of this elusive bird, but they are considered "near threatened" with populations declining due to loss of habitat, the cloud forests. 

For more on the Resplendent Quetzal, see eBird, or  this essay from Living Bird magazine, Costa Ricans Join Hands to Cultivate A Quetzal Community, by Alan Poole.

That's all for now! 
More on Costa Rica soon!

​Happy trails!

For my last post on September 27th I visited El Rio Preserve in Marana, Arizona, and focused on one food, the dragonfly, which was in plentiful supply and provided breakfast for raptors, shorebirds and songbirds alike. In this post I return to El Rio and take a focused look at the Grebe family (Podicipedidae), including a rare one for SE Arizona, the Least Grebe. 

Below, our solitary Least Grebe at El Rio Preserve is floating in a raft of multiple Pied-billed Grebes, all preening in the morning sun. Pictured side by side, these two grebes are in roughly the same focal plane, making it is easier to make comparisons.

The Least Grebe is dusky gray with a bright yellow eye and a thin and pointed bill with a light tip. In contrast, the Pied-billed is larger and browner with a thicker, stubbier bill.  Below, the two grebes are closer to each other for a better comparison, the Least Grebe on the right, the Pied-billed on the left.

Below, the two birds are even closer with the Least Grebe in the foreground, his eye partially closed.  

The two species seemed to get along, although I noticed that as they preened, they seemed to fluff up more when closer to the opposite species.

Below, a close up of a Pied-billed Grebe at Sweetwater Wetlands in January of 2022. Breeding adults have a vertical black stripe on the bill. This grebe is a non-breeding adult. 

Below a photo of a Pied-billed Grebe swimming on one of the ponds at Sweetwater Wetlands in February of 2020. All grebes have their feet positioned far back on their bodies, a bit like an outboard motor on a rowboat. Also, they have lobed toes, seen here just to the right of the center of the photograph. The combination of leg placement and lobed toes make them great swimmers, allowing them to dive and maneuver under water for prey. However, they are not good walkers and are rarely seen on dry land.

Clark's Grebes are black and white with long curved necks and long pointed orange bills. They are known for a dramatic courtship display, or "rushing ceremony" on their breeding grounds.

During this feeding phase they more than double their body weight with the digestive organs growing and the pectoral muscles shrinking to less than required for flight.  Before departure for wintering grounds the process reverses, with the digestive organs shrinking to one-fourth of peak size, and the heart and pectorals growing quickly to allow for flight. ​

In the image above, like other grebes, our subject has his "bum to the sun" to warm up on a cold December day.

In addition to the rare (or at least "casual") Least Grebe at El Rio, I spotted three warblers, plus a "used-to-be warbler," a Yellow-breasted Chat. Let's take a look . . . .

Below, an immature male "highwayman in training,"  with a faint and patchy mask.

The photograph below was shot 30 minutes later.  This may be the same bird, with the eye ring looking smaller because of the angle, or perhaps a female.

Yellow-breasted Chat's eat insects, as well as fruits and berries. 

That's a wrap! Four grebes, three warblers, and a chat! 
​More soon . . .

Happy trails!

September 20th and 21st my wife and I ventured to El Rio Preserve in Marana* to see which of our avian friends were there to welcome the first day of fall**.  We started as early as possible, making it to pond-side by 6 am on the 21st (not so early on the 20th).  There was an abundance of insects, especially Dragonflies. So many in fact, that they made it to the top of the morning menu. Here are three species shifting their diets ever so slightly in the dragonfly direction that morning.

* Here is a link to a prior post on El Rio: El Rio Preserve: Fall 2024
** September 22nd at about 11am in Tucson.

American Kestrels* are raptors, North America's smallest falcons, about the size of Mourning Doves. They commonly perch on high branches or telephone wires, diving to the ground after rodents, or grabbing insects in the air. They favor open areas with short ground vegetation and sparse trees, including meadows, grasslands, farm fields and parks. They are regulars at El Rio Preserve.

The female kestrel above was perched on a high snag over the lake, just north of the main viewing deck near the parking lot. After I captured this image she took off to the east, to my right as I was standing, and disappeared into the wetlands. As she flew back to her perch I was able to get her in my viewfinder and shoot ~16 frames before she landed.

Below, she is in mid-air on her return flight.

* For more posts on American Kestrels see: New Year's Day 2018 at Fort Lowell Park.

​

Female Kestrels are rusty overall with black barring on the wings.  Males have slate blue wings with a more pronounced blue crown. In this image we can see that she is carrying something in her talons. 

In the image below the wings are up and we can see she has probably two dragonflies in her talons. Her rusty tail is in good light.

Below, we see more detail of her prey, including what looks like a blue body. She appears to be carrying her prey with one talon, leaving the other free for a safe landing. 

Below, the kestrel has landed! 

American Kestrels are raptors with sharp, hooked bills. She will likely eat the whole dragonfly starting with the head. 

To see a kestrel lunching on a songbird at Ft. Lowell Park, go to the post Lunch time in Ft. Lowell Park. Caution: This post show a kestrel eating what is probably a Lark Sparrow piece by piece including the feet!

She pauses between bites for a photo-op!

Black-necked Stilts are stately shorebirds with year round populations in North and South America, as well as breeding grounds in the western U.S. They are short to long distance migrants, and Tucson is in their migration range. For more on Black-necked Stilts, and to see them in flight at Canoa Ranch, see my prior post: Historic Canoa Ranch April 2022.

As wading shorebirds, Black-necked Stilts eat aquatic invertebrates, small crustaceans, amphibians, snails, and tiny fish. They also prey on larval mosquitoes, soldier flies, brine flies, caddisflies, dragonflies, mayflies, crickets, grasshoppers, beetles (including weevils), water-boatmen, crayfish, brine shrimp, tadpoles, and very small frogs and fish. (Ref: All About Birds). 

Here we see a Black-necked Stilt working on a dragonfly, paring it down to size for the "big gulp."   

Images above and below, lifting the prey from the water in the process of meal prep! 

I have probably caught this stilt somewhere in the process of disassembling his breakfast. Above and below, the dragon fly still has sizable wings.

Below, this dragonfly had four wings when still flying, now apparently down to two. 

Above and below the stilt whips the dragonfly back and forth . . .

Male and female Black-necked Stilts look alike, but I will assume this is a female. After a few shakes of the dragon fly she dunks it back in water and continues her food preparation. 

In this case playing with your food is not only okay, but an important part of the meal.

We see a bit more of the dragonfly itself in these frames. The wings don't come off easily!

Above, she drops the dragon fly.  She picked it up again (not shown), and repeats the whole process. The second round took about a minute and occupied ~35 frames, none of which are shown here (mercifully!) 

Below, after the second round she is finished pounding her prey and considers actually eating!

Below, our subject has taken the dragon fly into her mouth and turns 180 degrees. There is subtle bulge in the neck

Below, she takes a big gulp. We can see just a bit of dragon fly wing sticking just above the bill . . . 

seen more clearly on the cropped image below! 

Bird species that live on the water eat a wide variety of food, including some large prey.  As an example, below is a link to a prior post:

Vermilion Flycatchers are year round residents of SE Arizona, and one of the most colorful flycatchers to watch. They are "sit and wait" predators, sitting on a perch, flying out for prey, then returning. Most of their diet consists of small flying insects. However, research (Ref: Birds of the World) has shown that they will capture grasshoppers and butterflies, which they bring back to their perch and beat before eating. There is no mention specifically of dragonflies. My guess is that this immature vermilion will take his catch to a larger perch nearby and eat  at least portions of it in pieces. Or, maybe he will just drop it! 

That's all for now! 
More coming soon.

​Happy trails!

Rufous Hummingbirds are feisty long distance migrants who make a regular stop on Mt. Lemmon in the summer and fall. Every spring they fly from their wintering grounds in southern Mexico or the gulf coast all the way north to the Pacific Northwest (2700 miles one way),  or western Canada and Alaska (up to 4,000 miles) for breeding, then back again! We see them on their way south.

The image above was captured in Summerhaven on August 23, 2025. We see three females or immature males creating a bit of a ruckus at a nectar feeder. Every summer the males are the first to migrate south, arriving in Summerhaven in early July, followed by females and immature males. By early September the gang has moved south into Mexico. 

Below, a picture of a male Rufous captured on March 16, 2018 at Battiste Bed, Breakfast and Birds in Hereford, Arizona.  Tony and Julie Battiste run a fantastic B&B with a large backyard feeding/viewing area, including a photo blind. This Rufous male was on his way north to breed, and stopped to get breakfast at their feeders. 

Male Rufous are orange on the back and belly, with with a mix of white on the throat and a vivid iridescent-red gorget that varies in color and intensity depending on the angle of the light.

The photographs above and below show the variation in color of the gorget depending on the angle to the sun and in this case, my speedlite. In the absence of good light the gorget looks dark brown. 

For more on feather color and the physics of structural color in Hummingbirds, see David Allen Sibley, What It's Like To Be a Bird, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2020, p 77.

Below, a male Rufous in flight on Mt. Lemmon July 19, 2024.  

Below, almost one year later to the day, a male Rufous in Summerhaven, one of the first to stop by on the long trek to Mexico. 

In the image below, a male Rufous later in the summer, August 31st, showing the rufous/orange back and edges of the gorget visible as he turns his head to the left.

Below, a female or immature male Rufous on August 23rd.  The female has a green back and a speckled gorget, often with a small spot in the middle. Immature males have a similar appearance, with the small spot over time turning into the mature male gorget.

Below, a female in flight, July 22, 2023. The back is a speckled green. 

Rufous Hummingbirds are very aggressive at feeders, both with other species and with their own. Below we see what appears to be three females/immature males facing off near a feeder, with two other birds perched on the tray. This is a wider angle view of the image that leads this post. 

​One Rufous, often a male, may work to dominate several adjacent feeders at the same time, claiming them as "his" and shooing off other hummers. The only species I have seen that ignores the Rufous is the Rivoli's Hummingbird, one of the largest hummers in North America, and clearly bigger than a Rufous. ​

Above and below, competition between Rufous over the feeder.  

You need a lot of calories to fly ~5,000 to 6,000 miles a year. Staking out and defending food sources along the way is essential. 

Below, two females in close combat. The bird on the left has closed her right eye to protect it from the incoming bill, while her bill is clearly into the feathers on her opponent's gorget. 

For the photo-geeks: As promised in the intro, here is more on the use of fill-flash for hummingbird photography using high-speed sync, or HSS. If you are not a photo-nut, don't leave now, the images that follow show more fun hummer aerobatics! 

Back in the day of  mechanical shutters, one could not use flash, even with high tech strobes, with shutter speeds over ~1/250 second. If you could, the shutter would not synchronize with the flash burst, resulting in only portions of the frame being illuminated. This restriction made the use of fill flash, putting in just enough light to "fill in"  darker portions of the photo, difficult for fast moving objects. I have used fill flash for hummingbirds at shutter speeds of 1/200 second, and if the bird was hovering in a stable position, I could get the eye and bill sharp, with blurring of the wings, which can look really cool. However, if the bird was darting here and there, which is often the case, everything gets blurred. 

I recently discovered that high speed sync was introduced in 1995, but it has taken me 30 years to discover it. (Only the newest, hottest stuff on this blog!)  Oh well . . .

In all fairness, it took the advent of  electronic shutters ~ 7 years ago, to make HSS more practical. And for action photography, it took stacked sensors and rapid readout to minimize rolling shutter on electronic shutters, necessary for high speed subjects like race cars and hummingbirds.  So, the manufacturers are now able to pair their speedlites (strobes) with their cameras to create a burst of rapid flashes that allows the photographer to use higher shutter speeds with flash and get even and predictable light on the subject, with minimal rolling shutter.

The image above, and the ones below, as well as a few in the preceding section, were all taken with a Canon R5 Mark II with a 580 EX II Speedlite set to HSS. 

In regard to set up, I can only speak to my Canon gear. Note that HSS is available in several other brands. 

​For a Canon R5 Mk II, first put a compatible speedlite on the camera. I have an aging 580 EX II, and it works.  Turn on the speedlite.  Turn on the camera, then go to the Red Menu (little camera icon) , second tab (2/9), and click on External Speedlite Control.  Scroll down to Flash Function settings and click on it. You will see the screen  below, left.

Select the box at the lower left (red on the screen) which takes you to the Shutter synchronization screen, above on the right. Click on the far right box, High-speed synchronization. A little High Sync icon lights up on the speedlite LCD screen (not shown). Note that the camera/speedlite combination stays in HSS mode even if both the speedlite and camera are turned off and then on again, but it loses the setting if the batteries of the speedlite are changed. If the batteries run low and you need to change them out for fresh ones, you will need to repeat the set up above.

Final steps: add a Better Beamer to the speedlite, set the speedlite in manual mode at ~1/15 power. I usually shoot at 1/2000 to 1/4000 second, hand held.  Although I usually shoot birds in manual mode with the ISO on Automatic, for HSS I got more predictable results setting the ISO at a fixed value, in most cases between 2000 and 4000. Check your exposure and adjust settings as needed.

On many of my usual hummer shots the birds are side-lit or back-lit, creating shadows that are hard to deal with.  The speedlite with the Better Beamer puts just enough light on the bird to get the colors and feather detail to "pop" and add a highlight off of the eye. 

Below, a female/immature male coming in for a landing at the feeder. I love the landing pose; feet out, wings back, tailed flared and bill open just a smidge. The flash fills in the detail on the chest and throat, and adds a highlight to the eye. In fact, the bird appears to have two highlights, perhaps one from the flash and the other from incident light.  Full disclosure: I did use the Remove tool in Lightroom to take out part of the nectar bottle in the upper right corner. 

Above and below, additional shots of the Rufous in flight competing for time at the feeder which was off frame to the right of these images.

One remaining challange: Depth of field. In the image above the Canon R5 Mk II does a good job of locking onto the eye of the lower bird in the frame, but the upper bird is just out of the range of focus. I was shooting at f/8.0, and at f/11 or higher, I might have had both birds in focus. At high f-stops the depth of field increases, but there is less light hitting the sensor, so the ISO goes up. For the most part in 2025 high ISO's can be corrected for with post-production noise reduction software such as Topaz De Noise. 

For a great video on autofocus in Canon cameras, especially the R5 Mk II, see Rudy Winston and canon autofocus explained. 

Below, likely a male on the upper left going after a female on the lower right. The flash adds color and detail, especially for feathers, like the red/orange in the male's gorget. 

Below, two females/immature males face off. We may be seeing some rolling shutter in the wings of the bird on the left. My experience so far with the Canon R5 Mk II set on electronic shutter is that there is very minimal rolling shutter. 

Below, more ruckus!  The far bird is in focus.

Below, the closing shot. A female Rufous strikes a pose! The right eye is in focus with a catchlight. High-speed sync flash at 1/4000th second.

Note: All images in this post processed in Adobe Lightroom Classic with noise reduction using Topaz DeNoise AI. Sharpening done as the last step.

Here is a link to hummingbird photography and HSS which I have found helpful: 
Ed Erkes Nature Photography, Different Ways to Photograph Hummingbirds, Part I

That's all for now!
Stay tuned, more coming soon! 

Happy trails! 

Hummingbirds are small highly active birds with high energy demands who consume large amounts of nectar during the day. However, they also need protein which is supplied by insects.  We are accustomed to seeing hummers at feeders and flowers, but they also are on the prowl for bugs . . .   

Above, a female Anna's sitting on a branch, which in fact, is her early morning breakfast buffet!  Below a close up of the entrees . . . .

It is unclear what type of insects these are, or whether they are in a breeding habitat, or have become ensnared in a type of cobweb. 

Below, our subject looks up, then to the right, likely looking for flying insects. Hummingbirds will "hawk,"  alighting from a branch to catch an insect in flight. 

In the sequence below, she looks to the left, then down, where she spots the small insects ensnared on the branch.

Mouth open, she reaches down for breakfast . . .

Above, she grabs her prey, and below, pulls it up, along with some sticky webbing.

​For the Photo Geeks:  It was 7 am at Sweetwater Wetlands and I was walking on the south side of  the eastern ponds when I spotted this Anna's perched on a branch. Hand holding my Canon R5 MkII with a 100-500mm zoom and 1.4x extender, I set a high frame rate and waited for the bird to take off, hoping for inflight photos. My shutter finger was more active than the bird, and as expected, I got dozens of  perched bird photos! When I got the images home on my computer, I discovered this sequence, and was just able to make out the bugs on the branch! ​

Bugs in webbing, like a sticky-bun, can be a bit of a mess first thing in the morning . . 

Bug and webbing free of the branch, she scarfs them down! Always careful, she closes her eyes as she catches her prey.

Below, she is back to her foraging position, then looks down again.

Yup, there is more . . .

Yum yum, more goodies . . .

She snags her bugs and webbing, and in the sequence below seems to use her tongue to scarf down the insects.

Above, she looks left again, then right, the decides to take off for the next stop on her early morning "cafe crawl . ." 

So, if you see a hummingbird feeding, odds are 10:1 it will be at a flower or a feeder. It is also easier to spot a hummer hovering at a feeder than darting midair hawking flies! 
​
​A separate study estimated that an Anna's requires 38 mg of protein a day, which can be met by consuming 38 "average flies", assuming each fly is 60% protein and 80% of the protein is utilized. Kind of like catching an occasional 'burger amid a steady diet of snow-cones! 

That's all for now! 
It is raining on the mountain right now!  Yahoo!

Happy trails!

My wife and I went birding with our friends Jim and Marty on Sunday morning July 13th, walking down Sabino Canyon Parkway toward Marshall Gulch. Just south of the water department we spotted a raptor on one of the trees recently burned in the Bighorn Fire. The bird was really far away, uphill, and well,  since common birds are common, we suspected it was a Cooper's Hawk, and kept on walking! As always, I took photos . . . 

I downloaded the photographs to my computer on Monday.  To confirm the species,, I took a photo of the computer screen for Merlin Bird ID (Cornell). Merlin was very persistent, telling me more than once that this was not a Cooper's Hawk, but an American Goshawk, one of three related accipiter* species in the U.S.

*Don't click on your dictionary app, I will explain "accipiter" below.

The American Goshawk, formerly know as the Northern Goshawk, is an accipiter like the Cooper's and Sharp-shinned, but a bit larger. The American Goshawk lives and breeds away from human populations and is very protective of their nests and aggressive towards people or animals that get too close!  Therefore, spotting one it is a relatively rare occurrence. One of the distinguishing field marks is the bold white eye-line above the eye, seen in the photo above.

Below, the Goshawk crouches and takes off. 

The Goshawk is larger than either the Cooper's or Sharp-shinned, and and like all the accipiters the females are larger than the males. 

Below, a view of the extended right wing. The accipiter wing has a low aspect ratio, being short in relation to its width. More on this in a minute.

In flight accipters and buteos look different. As previously noted, Accipters have lower wing aspect ratios (length/width) compared to buteos. For illustration, below are two images, on the left the Goshawk we saw on Sunday July 13th, and on the right a Red-tailed Hawk captured on Mt Lemmon in October of 2023. 

Although we did not see other accipiters on Sunday, this is a great time to reach into the archive and catch up on the other two accipiters we do see in the U.S., Cooper's and Sharp-shinned Hawks.

Note that the eye color of the Cooper's varies from blue to blue-gray as a nestling to yellow as juveniles, then to yellow/orange or red as adults. (Ref: Avian Recon.)  The bird above is likely a juvenile, the one below an adult. 

Below, a Cooper's in flight showing the typical short and wide wings with a long and slightly rounded tail. 

Below, from Summerhaven in August of 2019, a Cooper's Hawk enjoying an early dinner during the monsoon. 

In the spring of 2017 a pair of Cooper's Hawks nested in Agua Caliente Park, high in a tree directly over the Rose Cottage Education Center. The image below was captured on June 1, 2017, showing presumably the mother to the left, and her nestling peeking through the leaves to the right.

The image below was captured a week later, June 8, 2017. The nestling is now a fledgling, sitting on an adjacent branch, left leg down, right leg tucked up. Note that the eyes are grey/yellow. 

​Sharp-shinned's are similar in appearance to Cooper's, but in flight the Sharp-shinned has a short wide neck with the head in-line with the wrist joints on the wings, evident in the image above.The tail is long and squared off, whereas the Cooper's has a more curved tail. Sharp-shinned's are commonly spotted at hawk watches in the fall. 

The image above was captured at Agua Caliente in December of 2023.

Canon R5 Mk II, RF 100-500mm with 1.4x ext. at 700mm, 1/400 sec., f/10, ISO 8000, -0.33 EV.

In addition to the American Goshawk, we spotted some songbirds, including this Virginia's Warbler. ​

Virginia's Warblers are gray with yellow at the tail and on the breast, and a bold round eye-ring, which we can see in the images above and below.

Above and below we can see the white eye ring and the yellow feathers at the rump.

The Western Bluebird is a regular on the mountain in the summer where they nest in holes in trees or in nest boxes.  Above, likely a male Western Bluebird perched on a snag on July 13th.  For more on the Western Bluebird, summer and winter, see the links below to prior blog posts. Click on the title or the photograph.

Above and below, images of a Western Flycatcher near Sabino Canyon Parkway on July 13th. Note that this bird has a yellow band on the left leg, and a metal band with ID number of the right leg (metal band just barely visible, ID number is not).​

Western Flycatchers are small flycatchers in the genus Empidonax (Empids) that winter in Mexico and return to mountain riparian habitats to nest each year. They are greenish brown above, and pale below with a large head and a straight bill, wide at the base. They eat insects and nest on flat areas, including platform nests built especially for them. 

The bird shown above was likely banded by Charles or Harold in prior years. Charles' research has demonstrated that the birds he banded tended to return to Summerhaven to nest in subsequent years, sometimes in exactly the same spot. 

Below, a platform nest built especially for the Western Flycatcher with a female sitting on the nest on July 13th. It is not clear if she is incubating eggs or not. Mid-July is a bit late for breeding, and this could be a second try for this season. 

For more on Western Flycatchers, see this link: 

That is all for now! 
More coming soon. . . . .

Happy Trails!

I sit down to write this on Saturday, June 28, 2025, hopefully at the end of a very dry spell! Weather maps show a high pressure area moving toward four corners, with a prediction of monsoon rains beginning this Tuesday, July 1st. However, the hope of rain is not the same as water, and things are really dry up here today! 

Birds are here, but not in much evidence. This past week my wife and I walked Marshall Gulch and Bear Wallow*, with the greatest activity around a puddle (literally!) in a stream bed on the way from Bear Wallow to Mt. Bigelow. We then capped off June at the Meadow Trail on Sunday the 29th, a pause from writing this blog! 

One of our finds (thanks to a fellow birder!) was a somewhat scruffy looking Red-breasted Nuthatch in Bear Wallow. Makes me want to go nuts over hatches . . . (groan!).

​So let's take a look at Nuthatches!

*My thanks, as always, to Jeff Babson, ace naturalist, who led one of his classic  birding expeditions to Bear Wallow on the 27th!  Thanks Jeff!

Granted, not all these nuthatches were in Bear Wallow on June 27th, but I could not resist the lure of "mixed-nut hatches . . "  Bear with me (in Bear Wallow . .  LOL!!). And only one cup of coffee so far this morning . . . 

This irruptive behavior tends to occur on a two year cycle. For the bird observer this means that there will be years with no Red-breasted Nuthatches in the local neighborhood, and others where they will suddenly be seen in large numbers, especially in regions of the southeast. A bird of the Northwoods may suddenly appear on the Gulf Coast.​

Above and below, a Red-breasted Nuthatch in Bear Wallow on June 27th looking for insects. In typical nuthatch fashion, they will hang upside down as they forage. Red-breasted Nuthatches have a sharp bill, a short tail, a black crown with a white eyebrow and a black eyeline. They are blue-gray above and rusty below. This bird may be a female or juvenile, with paler underparts. 

The two images below are a Red-breasted Nuthatch caught on the Meadow Trail, Mt. Lemmon, in August of 2021. I have included the images here to show what is likely a male with brighter rusty underparts. 

For the post on this sequence of events, with some great images of the male blowing wood chips to the wind, see Spring Nesting 2023, Part 2  . . ., or click on the image above. 

The bird above could be a female, caught in Madera Canyon in January of 2021. She appears to have a fuzzy caterpillar in her bill. 

Below, perhaps a male, caught in Hereford in January of 2017. Nuthatches will climb down trees head first foraging for insects. It is thought that climbing down a tree from top to bottom gives the bird a view of insects other birds may have missed when going from the base to the top (Ref: Woodland Woman).

The photograph below was captured toward the northern part of their range in Cape May, New Jersey, October 2021. 

The Pygmy Nuthatch has been the subject of extensive research. For more, see All About Birds, or Birds of the World.

The two photographs above and one below were captured on the Meadow Trail at ~9000 feet in July of 2021. Here an adult Pygmy Nuthatch, male or female, is lunching on a Lady Bug. 

Below a female is showing mating behavior next to a nest on the Meadow Trail in 2023. This is the same nest dug out by the Red-breasted Nuthatch shown earlier in this post (see, I told you to keep reading!). For more on the Pygmy's mating behavior see Spring Nesting 2023: Part 2: At 9000 feet dead trees make great homes!  or click on the image below.

Below, a male or female in flight at the same nest site, same day. Their large feet are specially adapted to allow them to forage down a tree head first.

Research on the Pygmy Nuthatch shows that they are very aggressive toward other birds encroaching on their nesting territory. The sequence here was shot adjacent to our cabin in Summerhaven on June 26, 2025, well within the date range for active broods in the communal nests of Pygmy Nuthatches. 

Above, a Black-headed Grosbeak sits on a seed block along with a Pygmy Nuthatch, both are likely in their breeding territory and looking for food. Below the grosbeak makes threatening moves toward the nuthatch. 

All birds are descendants of dinosaurs, and here the grosbeak is doing a very good Tyrannosaurus Rex impersonation! 

In the series that follows, the two birds face off, the Pygmy Nuthatch holds his ground, in spite of his much smaller size and smaller bill.

Above, if birds could snarl, the grosbeak is clearly snarling!  The nuthatch raises up his wings, and in the frame below, the feathers on his head are raised. 

Below the grosbeak takes a more aggressive stance, jaws open wide. The nuthatch pulls back, but does not flee. 

Above, the nuthatch, crown feathers up, hold his ground, and spreads his jaws slightly. Below, the nuthatch goes on the offensive, putting his bill entirely into the mouth of the grosbeak, with the tip of the grosbeaks bill indenting into the feathers on the head of the nuthatch. 

Below, detail of the image above. The nuthatch's bill is very sharp, and I suspect the grosbeak feels it! Note that the nuthatch has closed his eyes. 

Below, both birds pull back. 

The standoff continues. The frame below is the last frame I shot. I assume the ruckus subsided, since I did not find any stray bird parts on the feeder! 

During breeding there is intense competition for food (feed yourself and your young) as well as the risk of nest predation. Many smaller bird species will take on larger ones, as we see above, when the stakes are high! 

Let's finish up with a burst of color . . . .

​Western Tanagers are member of the Cardinal family. Males are bright yellow with an orange-red head and black wings, back and tail.  Females are a somewhat more muted yellow-green and black.  
​
Most red birds get their red color  from dietary plant pigments known as carotenoids. However, the Western Tanager gets its scarlet from a rare pigment called rhodoxanthin, also acquired in the diet probably from insects.  

Western Tanagers live in open woods and eat predominantly insects, especially during breeding season, but are able to shift to fruit in fall and winter. They are tree nesters with  the female building the nest.  The male is attentive throughout the breeding cycle sometimes feeding her and sharing the responsibility for chasing away intruders. 

Tanagers are limited to the Western Hemisphere. Most tanager species live in Central and South America, but five species live or wander into the U.S.  In addition to the Western Tanager, we might spot the following four species in the U.S.: ​​

Well, it is time to post, July 6, 2025.  Yes, the monsoon did come!  Wednesday saw almost 2 inches of rain in Summerhaven. We are all looking forward to more! 

Stay tuned! 
​Happy trails!

At the end of May I posted on Broad-tailed Hummingbirds on Mt Lemmon. Here is another species, Anna's Hummingbird, more common this time of year in the Tucson area.

​I caught these shots in our yard in midtown, where in May flowers were in bloom and water was running in the fountain. Water is a big draw for birds this time of year, especially before the monsoon rolls in!

Most birds bathe, either in water (puddles, fountains) or dust (common in the desert, for example, Gambel's Quail). Here, an immature male Anna's Hummingbird bathes in a running fountain in our backyard. 

Looks like fun! Water is flying in all directions! 

Immature males have a partial gorget, the bright pink/red throat patch. The male gorget extends laterally on both sides. Depending on his angle to the light, we can see spots of the developing gorget to the right side as well as the center. As the bird matures, the rest of the gorget will fill in.

Birds bathe to get rid of dust, dirt, and parasites. They often preen following a bath, to clean the feathers further using their uropygial gland, an oil gland present at the base of the tail. They will rub their bill on the gland, then distribute the oil on the feathers. This bird took off quickly (as usual) and likely preened in private!

These photographs were all captured on May 6, 2025, when flowers were blooming in the yard. It is always fun to catch hummers at a natural nectar source (flowers), feeding themselves, while they transfer pollen grains from the male anthers of one flower to the female stigma of another, a process necessary for plant fertilization and seed production. In this sense, they are "bees with feathers." (Ref: Audubon for Kids, Hummingbird Pollination Practice).   

Above and below, this female Anna's bill is loaded with pollen! 

The male Anna's throat and crown are dark in the shade, but turn a vivid rose-pink when the light strikes at the correct angle. Above, a male with pollen on his bill and a hint of pink showing on the crown. Below, he is feeding out of the direct light with the throat and crown dark. 

Above, nectar on his bill, his tongue just barely sticks out. Below, his jaw is partially open with the tongue extended further.

The hummingbird tongue is designed as a conveyor belt for nectar,  forked at the tip and moving about as fast as the wings to lap up large volumes of nectar in a short amount of time.

​For more on hummer's tongues, including some fast frame photography of the tongue in action, see this link to PBS Learning Media, Structure and Function: Hummingbird Tongue.

Below, our male subject angles up to another flower with the incident sun reflecting off of the feathers of the gorget to generate a burst of color!

The three shots below are from Patagonia in February of 2018, showing a male Anna's at a feeder with nice coloration coming off of the gorget as he moves his head.

The color of these feathers is structural, generated by the microscopic architecture of the feathers, reflecting only certain wavelengths (colors) at only certain angles. As the position of the head to the sun varies, the color changes. If out of the light or "off angle" the head will be completely brown, as seen in some of the frames of the male feeding at flowers above.

​For more on feather color and structural color in hummingbirds, see ​David Allen Sibley, What It's Like To Be a Bird, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2020, p 77.

Below, the same Anna's female feeding her nestlings on April 4, 2019. Note that at this angle the throat patch has a slight hint of red. To my eye, it looks like the nest is expanding to accommodate the growing offspring!

That's all for now!  More coming soon. 
​Happy trails! 

Birds are born to do four things: Eat, Don't get eaten (get lunch before your are lunch), Make more birds, and Molt! It is spring and the time to make more birds (breed)! As expected, Broad-tailed Hummers are on the mountain right now in breeding mode!

Broad-tailed Hummingbirds are a medium sized hummingbird with a slender body, big head and a long straight bill. The tail extends beyond the wingtips when perched, evident in the photo above. They are green above, with greenish or buffy flanks and a white chest with white line down the belly. Adult males, as above, have a rose-magenta throat patch (gorget).

​The Broad-tailed below is a male photographed in July of 2024 with a gorget that looks like it is in process, perhaps an immature or a mature male molting post-breeding. 

Below are two images of a female Broad-tailed, similar to the male but with speckles on the throat instead of the magenta throat patch. ​Both of these photos were shot on August 17, 2017 in Summerhaven, when wildflowers were in bloom.

The challenge for Broad-tailed's in May is that although they need to be on their breeding grounds in the mountains, nectar from flowers is only present at lower elevations. Thus nectar feeders are very helpful in the spring, making our feeder here in Summerhaven a very popular spot. ​

In this sequence, a male is sitting on the feeder when another male approaches.

Extensive research has been done on this species, especially at the Rocky Mountain Biological Lab (Ref: Birds of the World)​. This research shows that males are very territorial during the mating season, i.e. now! This territorial behavior likely extends to feeders. 

The male on the feeder extends his long bill toward the intruder, above. Below, he hops off of the perch and they face off "mano a mano".* The lower bird has only a partial gorget, typical of an immature male. The mature male, upper position, is likely showing dominance.

*An expression from the Spanish, hand to hand. I know birds don't have hands.

Below, they fly off frame, taking their dispute "outside." 

In this sequence a female is sitting on the left side of the feeder, and does not budge! A male is coming in from the left, with a female hovering on the right.

Below, the male crosses past the feeder and moves in on the hovering female.

Below, three frames showing the progression of their encounter! This whole sequence as shot took two seconds. Note that the female on the feeder stays put, playing the role of observer.

In this series a male is perched on the feeder, and a female comes in looking for a landing spot, or maybe just cruising by . . . . . .?

The male bends backwards eyeing the female . . .

In the shot below the camera switches focus to the female as she enters the frame.

The female lands on the perch while the males attention becomes very focused . . .

Below, they both fly off to the left. 

The image above was captured on July 19, 2021 near the meadow trail, just below 9000 feet. Nests are built entirely by the females in 4-5 days out of spider webbing, covered with lichens, bark fragment, and moss, to act as camouflage. Mom lays two eggs, which incubate for 16-19 days. She provides all of the care for the nestlings, the male's only role is to provide genetic information!  

As the nestlings grow, so does the nest itself, with the spider webbing allowing the nest to expand. Think of it as a starter house made of spandex that grows along with the family! 

That's all for now!  Keep your eye out for hummers this spring, up on the mountain and down in the valley. If you have feeders, keep them clean and full, they help provide supplemental energy especially before the flowers bloom. 

Happy trails! 

On April 5th I posted on Neotropic Cormorants and Violet-green Swallows at Agua Caliente Park,  see Agua Caliente Park, Spring 2025: Wings Over Pond 1.  As chance would have it, on April 19th I wandered over to Ft. Lowell Park on North Craycroft  and was surprised by a mass of swallows flying in tight circles over the pond. Of the ~100 swallows, my guess is that ~90% were Northern Rough-winged, kettling with a handful of Barn Swallows and a few Violet-greens. So here we go! 

Below, a Rough-winged Swallow opening up for a bug over the water. In spite of shooting thousands of images, including a set of "open wide" takes of the swallow, I was not able to catch an insect on the wing about to be eaten! 

For the photo geeks: All these images were captured on a Canon R5 Mark II, set on precapture, electronic shutter, at high shutter speeds and frame rates.  These birds were flying so fast, in circular patterns, that I frankly had little idea of what I was getting as I tried to pan and follow birds who were rapidly changing direction, right to left, or forward or away. I got many frames with very little on the frame or blurred blobs. The observant reader may note that the images above were captured with an 800mm prime lens. However this proved to be too much magnification for tracking purposes, and I switched to the RF 100-500 zoom relying on the R5 Mk II 45mp sensor to facilitate cropping  post-production.

Note that this pond has a large fountain/aerator in them middle, which provided the bright white blobs (large drops of water) seen on many of the images. 

Above, the swallow spots something to his right, and initiates a right turn, flaring his tail and banking.  Below, the tail flares more, the wing tips come back a bit, and he raises his alula, the "bastard thumb" at his "wrist" to increase the surface area of the wing and avoid a stall as his speed slows. 

Below, an enlargement of the image above, showing the wing detail and the alula. For more on the alula see: The Meadow Trail, Mt. Lemmon, Arizona, Summer 2021 wrap-up.

Above and below the turn tightens and our swallow comes around on his pursuit. ​The tail stays flared wide. 

Research on Cliff Swallows in flight, published in 2014, estimates that they can pull 7.8 g in a turn, well above the 5 to 6 g that would make a fighter piolet pass out.  Ref: Battling Birds Pull Extreme Aerial Maneuvers.

The Barn Swallow is the most abundant and widely distributed swallow species in the world, breeding throughout the Northern Hemisphere and wintering in much of the Southern Hemisphere, see the range map below. 

Barn Swallows are glistening cobalt blue above and tawny below, with colors bolder in the male. They have long deeply forked tails which aid rapid maneuverability in flight.

The forked tail is a key characteristic also of the the Swallow-tailed Kite, a raptor, who uses its forked tail to maneuver in flight while the wings stay locked in place. Flicking and rotating its tail,  this kite can switch from a straight course to a tight turn quickly as it scans for prey. For more on the Swallow-tailed Kite, see my post from Panama in March of 2024: Bocas Del Toro, Panama, March 2024: Part 1, Mountains.

Birds that are "nesting generalists" have a better chance of surviving as a species over time, vs. "nesting specialists" who insist on a specific set of conditions to breed and nest. For more on the risk of being a "nesting specialist" see Kirtland's Warbler Conservation Team.

Above and below we see a Barn Swallow foraging close to the water, and close to ~100 other swallows feeding over the same pond. 

Below, our subject, on the right, has pulled the mid-portion of the tail in to decrease drag, while maintaining extra maneuverability with the long outer feathers that create the forked tail. The bird to the left in the photo is a Northern Rough-winged Swallow, just out of the focal plane of the photograph.

On April 5th I posted on the Neotropic Cormorant and the Violet-green Swallow foraging over Pond 1 at Agua Caliente Park. For details on the Violet-green Swallow, including breeding on Mt Lemmon in 2020, see this link: Agua Caliente Park, Spring 2025: Wings Over Pond 1. 

Here we see the Violet-green Swallow again in small numbers, mixing in with the other swallows over the pond at Ft Lowell Park. The white spots in the background are drops from the large fountain in the middle of the pond which keeps the water aerated. We can see the green back, the violet tail, and white "saddle bags" typical of the species. 

Before I close, let's look at some  other species of swallow seen in the U.S. 

Purple Martins are in fact swallows, feeding on insects over bodies of water and nesting in large colonies on the east coast, and breeding in smaller numbers in Saguaro Cactus on the Sonoran Desert. Above, two Purple Martins at their apartment in May of 2022 on Muddy Creek Bay on Lake Erie, west of Cleveland and close to the Magee Marsh Wildlife Area. For more on Purple Martins, see:  NW Ohio Spring Migration 2022, Part 5, Wrap Up!

Bank Swallows are the smallest of North American swallows, wintering on the Pacific Coast of Mexico and breeding in the northern U.S., throughout Canada and into  Alaska.  This bird was photographed near Lake Erie in May of 2022, likely in migration to Canada. They eat flying and jumping insects, foraging often as high as 50 feet above water or open ground.

Bank Swallows nest in vertical banks and bluffs, often in large colonies. They are listed by Partners in Flight as a common bird in steep decline, with numbers down 89% since 1970. Declining numbers are likely due to loss of habitat with human development  removing or altering the steep banks they nest in. Although declining, they are still present in large numbers. Unlike the Barn Swallow, which moved from cave nesting to structures, Bank Swallows insist on banks or cliffs for their colonies.

That's all for now! Stay tuned, more to come.

​Happy trails!