What I've Seen So Far

Winter in Tucson is kind of magical for birders. Birds show up that would not have a chance at surviving year-round, or reproducing, here. But many parks and other nooks and crannies of habitat have enough resources for them in winter. It's warm enough that there is some insect life through the winter, and pockets of habitat have seeds and fruits left over from summer and fall.

The part of Himmel Park hosting the Harris's sparrow

At the beginning I said I wasn't necessarily out to chase rarities during this year of birding in Tucson. I would write about what an average birder could see in a year in Tucson. But I have seen some unusual birds.

For example, I wrote about some Cassin's kingbirds in another post. And on the very first day of the year I went to Himmel Park to look for a Harris's sparrow. It was first seen December 29 by Scott Olmstead--his photos of it can be seen with his eBird checklist. I found it in relatively short order. Harris's sparrow is a casual transient and winter visitor here.

Scott found this bird, he later told me, because he wanted to be out birding a lot. But his job didn't allow him to go on a lot of long trips. He was finding that he was seeing marvelous diversity of birds in locales within the urban area. He said Rio Vista Natural Resource Park was one of them. Indeed, according to eBird 25 species have been seen there so far in 2014--in just three weeks. Many of these species at Rio Vista were seen by Scott. They include a peregrine falcon and a somewhat rare winter broad-billed hummingbird. Some broad-billed hummingbird spend the winter in the vicinity of hummingbird feeders.

It was on a morning Scott had decided to try another spot--the relatively habitat-poor Himmel Park--that he found the Harris's sparrow. It would feed on the ground, sometimes with a white-crowned sparrow and sometimes with house sparrows, and then retreat into an oleander hedge (seen in the photo above).

Broad-billed hummingbird, Tucson Audubon front yard
January 24, 2014

I too saw a broad-billed hummingbird this winter. It has been hanging out in the front yard of the Tucson Audubon Society Offices and Nature Shop. There are feeders!

I have also seen a Lewis's woodpecker that was found in December in Reid Park. The are rare here in winter. And I have seen the black-and-white warbler that was found at Sweetwater Wetlands.

So far I have seen 70 species of birds in the greater Tucson area, and 21 species in my neighborhood.

By the way, you can see the Tucson locations I write about by going to eBird.org, clicking on "Explore Data" and using the "Hotspot Explorer." Put the name of the birding location in the box and hit enter! I will try always to use the name of the location that is used in eBird.

1    Gadwall - Anas strepera

2    American Wigeon - Anas americana

3    Mallard - Anas platyrhynchos

4    Cinnamon Teal - Anas cyanoptera

5    Northern Shoveler - Anas clypeata

6    Northern Pintail - Anas acuta

7    Green-winged Teal - Anas crecca

8    Canvasback - Aythya valisineria

9    Ring-necked Duck - Aythya collaris

10  Common Merganser - Mergus merganser

11  Ruddy Duck - Oxyura jamaicensis

12  Gambel's Quail - Callipepla gambelii

13  Pied-billed Grebe - Podilymbus podiceps

14  Neotropic Cormorant - Phalacrocorax brasilianus

15  Great Egret - Ardea alba

16  Black-crowned Night-Heron - Nycticorax nycticorax

17  Northern Harrier - Circus cyaneus

18  Cooper's Hawk - Accipiter cooperii

19  Red-tailed Hawk - Buteo jamaicensis

20  American Coot - Fulica americana

21  Black-necked Stilt - Himantopus mexicanus

22  Spotted Sandpiper - Actitis macularius

23  Rock Pigeon - Columba livia

24  Eurasian Collared-Dove - Streptopelia decaocto

25  White-winged Dove - Zenaida asiatica

26  Mourning Dove - Zenaida macroura

27  Greater Roadrunner - Geococcyx californianus

28  Great Horned Owl - Bubo virginianus

29  Anna's Hummingbird - Calypte anna

30  Costa's Hummingbird - Calypte costae

31  Broad-billed Hummingbird - Cynanthus latirostris

32  Belted Kingfisher - Megaceryle alcyon

33  Lewis's Woodpecker - Melanerpes lewis

34  Gila Woodpecker - Melanerpes uropygialis

35  Ladder-backed Woodpecker - Picoides scalaris

36  Northern Flicker - Colaptes auratus

37  American Kestrel - Falco sparverius

38  Prairie Falcon - Falco mexicanus

39  Black Phoebe - Sayornis nigricans

40  Say's Phoebe - Sayornis saya

41  Vermilion Flycatcher - Pyrocephalus rubinus

42  Cassin's Kingbird - Tyrannus vociferans

43  Plumbeous Vireo - Vireo plumbeus

44  Common Raven - Corvus corax

45  Verdin - Auriparus flaviceps

46  Rock Wren - Salpinctes obsoletus

47  Marsh Wren - Cistothorus palustris

48  Cactus Wren - Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus

49  Black-tailed Gnatcatcher - Polioptila melanura

50  Ruby-crowned Kinglet - Regulus calendula

51  Western Bluebird - Sialia mexicana

52  Curve-billed Thrasher - Toxostoma curvirostre

53  Northern Mockingbird - Mimus polyglottos

54  European Starling - Sturnus vulgaris

55  Phainopepla - Phainopepla nitens

56  Black-and-white Warbler - Mniotilta varia

57  Orange-crowned Warbler - Oreothlypis celata

58  Yellow-rumped Warbler - Setophaga coronata

59  Wilson's Warbler - Cardellina pusilla

60  Abert's Towhee - Melozone aberti

61  Chipping Sparrow - Spizella passerina

62  Lincoln's Sparrow - Melospiza lincolnii

63  Harris's Sparrow - Zonotrichia querula

64  White-crowned Sparrow - Zonotrichia leucophrys

65  Northern Cardinal - Cardinalis cardinalis

66  Western Meadowlark - Sturnella neglecta

67  Great-tailed Grackle - Quiscalus mexicanus

68  House Finch - Haemorhous mexicanus

69  Lesser Goldfinch - Spinus psaltria

70  House Sparrow - Passer domesticus