More from the Pond at Elephant Head: Cardinals, Warblers, an Owl and a Bat!

7/3/2026

Western Screech Owl at night, April 10, 2026

On my April 28th post I reported on a family of House Finches at meal time from Dano Grayson's Pond at Elephant Head located east of I-10 and a bit south of Historic Canoa Ranch. This post returns to Elephant Head with looks at several avian species and one flying mammal, the Long-eared myotis!

Let's start with three members of the Cardinal Family, left to right all males, the Northern Cardinal, the Pyrrhuloxia, and the Lapis Lazuli.

Northern Cardinal

Canon R5 Mk II, RF 100-500mm at 500mm, 1/500 sec., f/9.0, ISO 2500.

The bright red male Northern Cardinal is hard to miss. Northern Cardinals live year around in the eastern and central states of the U.S. and southwest into Arizona. Tucson is at the western border of their territory, range map to the right.

Dano Grayson does a great job setting up his feeders, using old cholla cactus skeletons over rebar to create attractive perches that attract the birds - especially when there is food hidden in the crevices.

Canon R5 Mk II, RF 100-500mm at 343mm, 1/4000 sec., f/7.1, ISO 4000.

The male cardinal is bright red with black feathers surrounding the bill, a crest, and an orange bill. The red color of the feathers comes from dietary carotenoids, pigments which are initially yellow but are converted to red by enzymes in the liver.

Canon R5 Mk II, RF 100-500mm at 500mm, 1/500 sec., f/9.0, ISO 2500.

Below are images of a female Northern Cardinal sporting subtle tones of gray and red with a tawny yellow breast. Males and females share the crest with dark feathers about the bill, an orange bill, and a straight culmen, the dorsal ridge of the upper mandible. Likened by ornithologist Elliott Coues to the ridge line of a roof, it is the "highest middle lengthwise line of the bill" and runs from the point where the upper mandible emerges from the forehead's feathers to its tip.[4] (Ref: Wikipedia).

Canon R5 Mk II, RF 100-500mm at 400mm, 1/4000 sec., f/7.1, ISO 2000.

One of my favorite images is below. This was shot at the pond shortly after 10 am. The light was excellent.

Pyrrhuloxia

Canon R5 Mk II, RF 100-500mm at 400mm, 1/4000 sec., f/7.1, ISO 1600.

The Pyrrhuloxia is a close relative of the Northern Cardinal, also non-migratory, but with a smaller range, covering SE Arizona, southern New Mexico, Texas and portions of northern Mexico. The range map is to the right.

The male Pyrrhuloxia is often confused with the female Cardinal. However, the male Pyrrhuloxia has a yellow bill, red feathers around the bill, and a curved culmen, with a jaw line that looks like a nutcracker. To my eye, the Pyrrhuloxia has a "cute factor", looking a bit like a parakeet.

Pyrrhuloxia eat seeds, fruits and large insects. The nut-cracker jaw is well suited for foraging in the desert.

For more on Tanagers vs. Cardinals, see this post from Costa Rica:
Will the Real Tanager Please Raise Its Wings!

For Northern Cardinals in their late summer/fall molt see:
Cardinals Molting in August: A Pre-Halloween Tragicomedy

Lazuli Bunting

Canon R5 Mk II, RF 100-500mm at 500mm, 1/4000 sec., f/7.1, ISO 1600.

The Lazuli Bunting is another member of the Cardinal Family, wintering far south into Mexico, breeding to our north. Most of our sightings are probably in migration. The range map to the right is the "standard" found on Cornell websites, but the actual sightings cover a wider range. Birds of the World states that they "wander widely," and the annual range map based on recent sightings is consistent with this, see the eBird map below. Southern Arizona is definitely in their territory.

Males molt into their bright lapis lazuli blue over the course of the winter into spring. The males I captured in April are shown here, with a lot of blue in evidence.

The male below was photographed in September of 2024 at El Rio Preserve in Marana, in his fall post-breeding plumage.

Canon R5 Mk II, RF 100-500mm with 1/4x Ext. at 700mm, 1/1000 sec., f/10, ISO 640.

Lazuli Buntings are beautiful birds with beautiful songs regardless of the season (Ref: All About Birds).

Finally for some full "ka-boom" blue, here are some images of males in spring.
Below is a male at Cave Creek Ranch, in the Chiricahuas, in May of 2016.

Canon 7D Mk II, Sigma 150-600mm at 324mm, 1/160 sec., f/6.3, ISO 1250.

And the two images below are from mid-town Tucson in May of 2025.

Canon R5 Mk II, RF 100-500mm at 500mm, 1/3200 sec., f/7.1, ISO 2500, EV -1.

Below a male taking flight.

The females have more subtle coloration, the two images below from the same date in May of 2026. Tucson is a bit south for their breeding grounds, but these birds look like pairs in breeding season.

Note that the bright blue of the Lazuli Bunting is not from pigment, but from structural color, microscopic properties of the feather that allows only blue to be reflected to the eye. Ref: All About Birds, How Birds Make Colorful Feathers.

Lucy's Warbler

Canon R5 MkII, RF 100-500mm at 400mm, 1/3200 sec., f/7..1, ISO 8000.

Lucy's Warblers are small and compact birds with a short tail and a thin bill. Males are grayish overall with a cinnamon rump and a crown patch. The females are duller with the rump and crown patches a yellowish brown or reddish yellow. (Ref: All About Birds)

Lucy's Warblers are residents of the southwest, breeding in mesquite bosques and riparian washes. They are one of two warbler species that nest in cavities, the other being the Prothonotary Warbler. Lucy's Warblers prefer old woodpecker holes or areas of peeling bark in mesquite bosques. To learn more about nest boxes that attract Lucy's, see Tucson Bird Alliance, Lucy's Warbler.

On this day at Elephant Head this male hung out for a while, allowing me to catch images of his morning bath in the pond.

Canon R5 MkII, RF 100-500mm at 500mm, 1/4000 sec., f/7..1, ISO 1600.

Here is a second series when he really gets his head in the water and shakes!

Canon R5 MkII, RF 100-500mm at 500mm, 1/4000 sec., f/7..1, ISO 2500, EV -1.

Do birds have fun? Certain species certainly seem to (Ref: All About Birds), and this bath looks like a good time!

Hooded Oriole

Canon R5 MkII, RF 100-500mm at 400mm, 1/4000 sec., f/7..1, ISO 1250.

Wait, Hooded, so where's the hood? Ahhh, this is female, and they are yellow. The males have the hood.

The male, shown below on the left captured in Cave Creek Canyon in April of 2021, is yellow with a black face and bib. The "hood" is yellow, although one might think of hoods as being black - although Little Red Riding Hood had a red hood . . . . . oh well .

The Hooded Oriole lives in the southwest, breeding in California, Arizona and New Mexico and wintering along the west coast of Mexico, with some adjacent year round populations. This female we spotted on April 11th is likely in her breeding territory. For nesting, females weave grass and plant fibers together to create a hanging basket, then stitch the nest to the underside of leaves, favoring palm, sycamore or eucalyptus trees.

Hooded Orioles eat spiders and insects from the undersides of leaves, as well as fruit and nectar from flowering plants and hummingbird feeders (Ref: All About Birds).

Birds that can eat a variety of foods, including fruit, generally enjoy a wider geographic range than dietary specialists, such as the Red-faced Warbler, that eats only insects.

Oranges will bring fruit eaters to a feeding area.

Above and below, views of her wings.

For the photo geeks: Depth of field is very shallow for long lenses at wide apertures. Note that the tail is in focus, but the eye and bill are not. This is a constant challenge in bird photography. It is compounded by our natural tendency to look first the the eye of the subject, regardless of whether it is a person, a bird or a tiger! Any bird photo in my library with the eye out of focus usually ends up in the dustbin, but in this case the wing and tail tell a story, so it made the cut!

For more on orioles in SE Arizona, check out this post from 2021:
The Chiricahua Mountains and Cave Creek Canyon April 2021: Part II, Rare Birds at the Feeders.

Below from left to right: Scott's, Bullock's, and Hooded Orioles.

Phainopepla

Canon R5 MkII, RF 100-500mm at 500mm, 1/4000 sec., f/7..1, ISO 640.

Phainopepla's are the only U.S. members of the family Ptilogonatidae, or Silky Flycatcher. This is a small family consisting of four species, the Grey-silky Flycatcher, the Long-tailed silky-flycatcher, the Black-and-yellow Phainoptila, as well as the Phainopepla. The family lives in Central America, with the Phainopepla extending northward into the southwestern U.S. (Ref: Wikipedia). See the range map of the Phainopepla to the right from Cornell's All About Birds.

When perched, the male Phainopepla is silky black with a prominent crest. In flight, there is a flash of white from the wings, which I was able to capture in this series. They move so fast in flight that the white is literally a flash!

For the photo geeks: Note the shutter speed of 1/4000 second for this series. If I think a bird might take flight, I crank up the shutter speed, and deal with any noise later in post-production.

Canon R5 MkII, RF 100-500mm at 500mm, 1/4000 sec., f/7..1, ISO 800.

I am always astonished at the genetics of wing color, where each feather has its place in sequence, combining to create a consistent pattern for the wing as a whole. My guess is that there is a package of genes that code for the wing color that gets expressed feather by feather. Quite amazing!

For more posts on Phainopepla in SE Arizona see:

Sabino Canyon: Return of the partial albino Phainopepla
Agua Caliente, Spring 2025, Part II, Songbirds in the Desert. (This post includes spring nesting).

Western Screech-Owl

Canon R5 MkII, RF 100-500mm at 472mm, 1/100 sec., f/7..1, ISO 800. EV -1.

The Western Screech-Owl is a small owl that lives year round in the woods and deserts of western North America from Alaska into southern Mexico. They are dietary generalists, eating everything from worms and crayfish to rats and bats (ref: All About Birds). They nest in tree cavities and are tolerant of human populations, living in urban parks and residential areas within their range. They take readily to backyard nest boxes.

This owl is a regular at Dano's pond, coming in close at night. The image above was captured with the help of a flashlight.

Canon R6, RF 100-500mm at 500mm, 1/400 sec., f/7.1, ISO 1600.

Above, a Western Screech-Owl on a volunteer's glove at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in April of 2023. The owl is compact, about the size of the handler's glove.

Canon R6, RF 800mm at 400mm, 1/1600 sec., f/11, ISO 1250.

Above and below, a Western Screech-Owl at the San Pedro House in February of 2022. The owl is well suited for nesting in tree cavities, almost disappearing into the mix of grays and whites.

Below, a Western Screech-Owl snoozing the day away in Sabino Canyon near the dam, February 2024.

Western Screech-Owls are nocturnal sit-and-wait predators, perching inconspicuously on tree branches watching the ground for prey.

Canon R7, RF 100-500mm at 500mm, 1/1000 sec., f/8, ISO 1250.

Long-eared myotis

Canon R5 MkII, RF 100-500mm at 500mm, 30 sec. with strobe, f/9.0, ISO 1000.

Let's wind up the post with the world's only flying mammal, the bat! There are over 1500 species of bats globally, making them the second largest order of mammals (right behind rodents).

Dano Grayson's pond is especially set up to capture images of bats coming in at night to drink water. Sensors can detect bats flying into the pond area and trigger strobes which in turn allow cameras with open shutters to grab an image. With a lot of help from Dano we set up our cameras on tripods focused on a set spot at the pond's edge. The cameras were set to take a series of successive images with 30 second exposures all night. I ended up with many perfect shots of total darkness, and a few actual images, including this one!

This bat is a Long-eared Myotis, a nocturnal insectivore with an appetite for beetles. The species lives in western North America, including portions of Canada, the United States and Mexico (Ref: Wikipedia, Long-eared myotis).
Range map to the right.

They roost in tree cavities, rock crevices, caves and abandoned buildings.

That's all for now! More coming soon.

Happy Trails!

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