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Backyard bird feeding is one of the most enjoyable and rewarding hobbies on earth. Join Cheryl and Kiersten as they talk all about bird feeding in the desert Southwest area of the United States. They talk birds, seed, feeders, and dealing with those pesky unwanted visitors!
Episodes
Monday Jun 05, 2023
Monday Jun 05, 2023
Summary: The Southwest has 1,2,3,4 or more thrashers! Join Cheryl and Kiersten as they talk about the four thrashers found most commonly in Arizona.
For our hearing impaired listeners, a transcript of this podcast follows the show notes on Podbean.
Show Notes:
Our email address, please reach out with comments, questions, or suggestions: thefeathereddesert@gmail.com
Transcript
Cheryl: Intro
Arizona sits in the middle of thrasher territory. Our corner of the southwest has four different thrashers that call our deserts home. All four of these thrashers are non-migratory, territorial, mate for life, and eat insects and spiders. Their territories might overlap only if they are not of the same species, such as the Curve-billed Thrasher would share territory with a Crissal Thrasher pair but not with another Curve-billed Thrasher pair. They are similar, yet not. As the saying goes so close yet so far…
Our first one is the Curve-billed Thrasher which is the most widely dispersed and most adapted to living with humans.
Kiersten: Curve-billed Thrasher
Strong legs and a long, decurved bill give the Curve-billed thrashers the perfect tool for hunting insects in the punishing deserts, canyons, and brush lands that are its home. That long bill also keeps that insect prey at a safe distance and comes in handy for foraging and nesting among spiny plants, especially, cacti. This species is so typical of the deserts of the American southwest and northern Mexico that its whistled “whit-wheet” call is often the first vocalization that visiting bird watchers learn.
The Curve-billed thrasher, actually has two different looks. The Curve-billed thrasher of the Chihuahuan desert of Texas/central Mexico has a lighter breast, more contrasting spots, pale wing bars, and white tail corners.
The Arizona (western) bird of the Sonoran Desert has grayer breast with less obvious spots and inconspicuous wing bars, and smaller, more grayish tail corners. It’s up for debate whether they are two separate species.
The Curve-billed thrasher of Arizona-Sonoran Desert population favors creosote bushes, Saguaro and cholla cacti, and Paloverde trees. These birds forage on the ground for a variety of insects, spiders and snails along with fruit and seeds. They use their bills to sweep back and forth through leaf litter and soil, tossing large pieces of vegetation to one side to uncover insect prey including “flipping cow chips”. Curve-billed thrashers do not use their strong legs for scratching in leaves, instead the legs provide leverage, and the tail provides support. Not cavity nesters, these birds build stick nests in cactus such as ocotillo, cholla or in creosote bushes. These birds’ mate for life, and maintain a territory all year-round of about 5-11 acres.
Cheryl: Crissal Thrasher
A lanky, gray-brown bird of desert washes, the Crissal Thrasher generally stays hidden and close to the ground as it probes for insects and seeds with its long, curved-bill. It may be easily mistaken for a curve-billed thrasher with its long tail and light orange eyes, except for a subtle black and white mustache, rich cinnamon patch under the tail, and pale, unspotted belly. Its mellow, musical song makes it one of the finest desert songsters.
Crissal thrashers are sedentary creatures. They almost never venture more than a mile or so from their home point. The Crissal thrasher walks and runs around its territory more than it flies. Even when disturbed by a predator, this thrasher is most likely to run away to cover.
Crissal thrashers live in desert and dry scrubby or brushy habitats, especially along dry creek beds, or in canyons and foothills. Also, brushy riparian corridors and mesquite thickets. Crissal thrasher habitats overlap Curve-billed thrasher habitats, but truly stays very much in the southwest corner of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and Southeastern corner of California.
Crissal thrashers are an insect and spider eater, like the curve-billed thrasher the Crissal uses its legs as leverage when foraging for insects.
Crissal thrasher pairs usually defend nesting territories year-round, and males sing anytime of the year to mark their territory. Crissal thrashers have nests that are set in very dense shrubs or trees about 4ft off the ground. These thrashers will not be attracted to bird feeding stations.
Kiersten: Bendire’s Thrasher
Bendire’s thrasher is a secretive bird of open desert habitats; it is a lanky, dusty brown songster with a curved bill that is somewhat shorter than the other thrashers on our list today.
Bendire’s thrasher spends most of its time on the ground, catching insects or digging them out of crevices in the ground. Bendire’s thrasher’s range overlaps with the curved-billed thrasher’s but they are more comfortable in open areas with shorter vegetation while curve-billed thrashers use cactus forests and stream corridors. Bendire’s has a bill almost like a woodpecker and they use it to extract insects lodged in the ground. It will hammer away until it frees its prey. Bendire’s thrasher builds bowl shaped nests lined neatly with grasses, animal hair and feathers. Crissal thrashers are non-migratory and their population is on the decline due to habitat loss.
Cheryl: Le Conte’s Thrasher
A pale, sandy gray colored bird with unmarked wings, a dark eye, and a cured-bill, Le conte’s thrasher is a ghost of a bird that often runs on the ground with its tail held up across the desert flats. Le conte’s thrasher when alarmed chooses to flee on foot, like a miniature roadrunner. This thrasher lives in low sandy, open deserts that are home to few bird species. Over most of their range are plants like cholla, cactus, creosote, yucca and mesquite spread very thinly over open flats or sand dunes. These birds thrive in desert habitats with very little rain fall and air temperatures that are among the highest recorded on earth, such as Death Valley.
Le conte’s thrashers eat insects and spiders along with lizards, snakes, and an occasional bird’s egg.
Le Conte’s thrasher breeding season begins in December. The female builds a twiggy cup nest in a thorny bush. This bird lives in remote, forbidding habitats making it difficult to track their population trends. It is on conservationist’s watch list due to destruction of its desert habitat by development, cattle grazing, off-road vehicles and fire. The Le Conte’s has the smallest range of all four thrashers occupying just a sliver of SE California, a southern corner of Nevada, the very SW corner of Arizona and a slip of Mexico.
Closing: As I said at the beginning, so close yet so far… two of the four southwest thrashers’ bird populations are in decline, so hopefully putting this information out will help draw some attention their way so that they have a chance of adapting and overcoming man’s intrusion into their landscapes.
Monday May 29, 2023
Monday May 29, 2023
Summary: Is birding as a hobby something you’d like to begin but are a bit intimidated by all the things you need to learn? Join Cheryl and Kiersten for some beginner birding tips that will make it easy to get started.
For our hearing impaired listeners, a transcript of this podcast follows the show notes on Podbean.
Show Notes:
Our email address, please reach out with comments, questions, or suggestions: thefeathereddesert@gmail.com
Beginner Birding Tips
Kiersten - Intro: Cheryl and I always get people asking us to identify the birds they see in their backyards. We love helping people figure out which feathered friend is visiting their feeders, but we thought we’d share some beginner birding tips with our listeners that will help you identify the birds when we not there to help you. Beware though once you master these tips the addiction has begun and you’ll use them everywhere you go, not just in your backyard!
Cheryl – I know when I see a new bird in my backyard, my heart beats a little faster at the prospect of identifying a new species I’ve never seen before. So, I run to get my ID guide to figure out who has come to visit, and by the time I get back to the window, the bird is gone. Of course!
But don’t worry, there are a few quick identifying markers you can take note of when you first see the bird that can help you when you’re able to access your ID guide.
The first one we’ll start with seems obvious but it’s super helpful and that is color. Whether it’s brown, blue, black, yellow, or red; color can be a great start to identifying your visitor. Initially you only have to make note of the main color of the bird. This will give you a good base to build your identification notes. When you get more confident you can add in striping, spotting, and other color markers.
Kiersten - Now that you’ve made note of the color, take a look at the body shape of the bird. This is one of the most important identifiers that will help you find which family of birds you should be looking at to ID your visitor.
There are three qualities you need to notice when looking at body shape. First is the size of the bird. Trying to decide whether a bird is small, medium, or large can be difficult when you first get started. So, I recommend picking a bird you are already familiar with such as a House Finch or Mourning Dove. Whatever you like, it’s doesn’t matter. Then when you’re trying to ID a new bird compare it to the size of your familiar bird. Is it bigger or smaller than a the House Finch? Then you have an idea of what size bird you need to look for in your ID guide.
Second look at the basic shape of the body. Is it small and round? Is it sleek and long? Is it stout? These are subjective terms but by making yourself memorize the shape of the body as you look at your visitor, you’ll recognize it when you look in your ID guide. Also, a lot of quick refence ID guides have a page where you can begin ID’s with the body shape. Or, if using an app, this may be an option as well.
Third, make special note of the tail. Is it long? Is it short? Is it v-shaped or square? Can you see a split in it? These three qualities combined will get you well on your way to finding your bird.
Cheryl – Once you’ve mastered these first two markers. Challenge yourself to add a few more easily seen characteristics. Look closely at the bird’s eye and see if there is a ring around it. If the bird has one, it will typically be a white, or other pale color. What you want to take note of is whether it goes all the way around, if it’s on the top only, the bottom only, or looks more like the letter C. The eye ring, as it’s called, is a great way to widdle down what bird you’ve seen once you’ve used color, shape, and size to get to the correct family.
Kiersten – One last characteristic to look for is bars on the wings. If the bird has wing bars they are often a lighter color than the main color of the wing. They can be very distinctive like bright slashes across the wings or a bit more faded. They can have one or two. These also may vary depending on the season. Adding this to your identification notes can pinpoint your bird!
Cheryl – We want to offer you a few other tips to make IDing new birds as easy as possible.
Be prepared. If you have a set of binoculars, place them near the window you can see your birdfeeders from. Having them readily at hand will improve your chances of getting a better look at the bird.
Place a pad of paper and pen next to the window as well. Then you can scribble down the identifiers we just talked about.
I know it sounds like a lot of things to remember, but don’t worry once you train your brain it will process all this information in a matter of moments.
Kiersten – Speaking of training your brain!
Scientific studies have proven that identifying birds can improve brain function! Neuroscientists have shown that gaining expertise in a subject area can rewire your brain. When choosing people to participate in their studies the scientists recruited from all levels of birdwatchers. The more you practice identifying birds the more neurons fire in your brain. As you gain expertise the pathway you are developing in your brain become quicker and easier to traverse.
Over time expertise can change the structure of your brain! Parts of the cerebral cortex can actually grow thicker as you gain more visual and auditory knowledge. This makes it easier for you to add new information in the future. For example, if you’re an expert at IDing birds in Arizoan and you travel to Maine, you may not be able to automatically ID brand new bird species but, it does help you remember them better. You’ve already opened those pathways so adding new information is easy and lasts longer. Now if you’re an expert birder that doesn’t mean you’re going to be great at everything new you try, but it could mean that you might be better at learning new visual skills. The research has also shown that sharpening your birding skills can help you sharpen your focus in other areas. I think this sounds like a great excuse to carry your binoculars everywhere you go!
Closing – Kiersten – So remember color, size, shape, and tail when you see a new bird and you’re on your way to becoming an expert bird watcher! Also pair this podcast with our Birding by Ear episodes and you’ll also work out your auditory brain muscles!
Thursday May 25, 2023
Thursday May 25, 2023
Summary:A three-minute podcast from the hosts of The Feathered Desert about individual bird species found in the desert Southwest.
Show Notes:
"Why a Hawk is a Hummingbird's Best Friend," by Ashley P. Taylor, Audubon, September 2015.
Bird song provided by Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology recorded by Marky Mutchler.
Monday May 15, 2023
Monday May 15, 2023
We know the white-wing doves are back in town and not everyone is happy about it! If you're having some high blood pressure moments at your feeder, listen to this classic episode for a few tips to deal with these unwanted visitors.
Summary: Doves driving you crazy? Pigeons eating you out of house and home? Grackles taking over your backyard? Join Cheryl and Kiersten as they reveal ways to outsmart these pesky visitors.
Show Notes:
dentification: www.allaboutbirds.org
Pigeon guards, feeders, and seed: Wild Birds Unlimited, Mesa https://mesa.wbu.com
We are no longer sponsored by Wild Birds Unlimited, Mesa but through personal experience we highly recommend their products.
Monday May 08, 2023
Monday May 08, 2023
Looking for a unique way to help your feathered friends? Check out this classic episode to find out how your breakfast can help birds.
Summary:Cheryl and Kiersten talk about bird-friendly breakfast items! Yes, just drinking a cup of coffee or tea and eating pancakes with maple syrup can help save the future of our songbirds. Listen as our co-hosts tell you all about bird-friendly coffee, eco-friendly tea, and bird-friendly maple syrup.
Show Notes: Bird-friendly coffee links: https://nationalzoo.edu/migratory-birds/about-bird-friendly-coffee
https://nationalzoo.edu/migratory-birds/about-bird-friendly-coffee-online
Eco-friendly Tea links: www.goingzerowaste.com/sustainable-and-eco-friendly-tea-brands/
https://elephantfriendlytea.com
https://www.ethicalteapartnership.org
This blog was also used in our research: www.abirdylife.com
Maple Syrup links: https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2019/04/turning-maple-syrup-forests-bird-friendly-habitat
https://vt.audubon.org/conservation/working-lands/landing/bird-friendly-maple-project
We are no longer sponsored by Wild Birds Unlimited, Mesa but through personal experience we highly recommend their products.
Monday May 01, 2023
Monday May 01, 2023
The Heat is on its way. Listen to this classic episode to find out how you can help your backyard birds survive the heat of a desert summer.
Summary: Cheryl and Kiersten dive into complicated topic of water in Arizona. Find out where Arizona’s water comes from, how important it is to our birds, and learn how we can do our part to conserve water for all our futures.
Show Notes:
A big Thank You to Rob Clarkson, wildlife biologist, for answering some questions about water conservation in Arizona.
Also a big Thank You to Gretchen Beaubier, local naturalist, who contributed information for his podcast as well.
“Welcome to Subirdia” by John Marzluff
Understanding Arizona’s Groundwater: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories
Data Center in Mesa, AZ article: www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/huge-data-center-arizona-water-concerns
Audubon Near you: www.Audubon.org
The Nature Conservancy: www.nature.org
American Rivers: www.americanrivers.org
Center for Biological Diversity: www.biologicaldiversity.org
Water for Arizona Coalition: www.waterforarizona.com
Desert Four o’clock pictures: www.wildflower.org
We are no longer sponsored by Wild Birds Unlimited, Mesa but through personal experience we highly recommend their products.
Monday Apr 24, 2023
Monday Apr 24, 2023
It's always a great time for a clean feeder! Listen to this classic episode to find out how to keep your backyard birds healthy.
Summary:Disease is a part of nature but we can help keep our feeding areas healthy for our feathered friends. Join Cheryl and Kiersten as they discuss the types of diseases we can see at our feeders and how to keep our backyard birds healthy when visiting our feeders.
Show Notes:
https://www.birdwatching-bliss.com/bird-diseases.html
https://feederwatch.org/learn/sick-birds-and-diseases/
https://www.massaudubon.org/learn/nature-wildlife/birds/bird-diseases-parasites
Our email address, please reach out with comments, questions, or suggestions: thefeathereddesert@gmail.com
We are no longer sponsored by Wild Birds Unlimited, Mesa but through personal experience we highly recommend their products.
Monday Apr 17, 2023
Monday Apr 17, 2023
Fledging season is here once again, so we've reposted a favorite episode about this time of year. Take a listen and enjoy!
Summary: It’s fledging season! Cheryl and Kiersten talk about the Do’s and Don’ts of what to do when we see a fledging bird out of their nest. Join them to find out how to identify a fledgling vs. a hatchling and how we can best help our backyard songbirds.
Show Notes:
PDF of Wild Bird Rehabbers in Phoenix Area: https://azwildlife.org/resources/Documents/Wildlife%20Rehab%20Contact%20List.pdf
IDing Baby Birds: https://www.thespruce.com/how-to-identify-babybirds
A Few articles on outdoor cat alternatives: https://www.jacksongalaxy.com/blog/leash-walk-my-cat-ask-the-cat-daddy/
https://www.jacksongalaxy.com/blog/indoor-cat-vs-outdoor-cat/
We are no longer sponsored by Wild Birds Unlimited, Mesa but through personal experience we highly recommend their products.
Monday Apr 10, 2023
Monday Apr 10, 2023
Summary: Wrens are some of the most charismatic families of songbirds! Join Cheryl and Kiersten as they introduce you to some found in the Southwest.
For our hearing impaired listeners, a transcript of this podcast follows the show notes on Podbean.
Show Notes:
“Western Chatterboxes” by Ken Keffer, Birds and Blooms Magazine pg 26-32.
Background bird song: Naturescapes Backyard Birds www.naturescapes.com
Our email address, please reach out with comments, questions, or suggestions: thefeathereddesert@gmail.com
Cheryl: Intro
Wrens are small birds but what they do not have in size they make up for in personality, chatter, and curiosity. Our Sonoran Desert has several wrens flit through our desert and urban landscapes.
Kiersten: Cactus Wren
The Cactus wren is a large, chunky wren with a long heavy bill, a long rounded tail, and short, rounded wings. The Cactus wren is the largest wren in the U.S. It also has the distinction of being the state bird of Arizona.
This wren is a speckled brown bird with bright white eyebrows that extend from the bill across and above their red eyes to the sides of the neck. They have pale cinnamon sides and a white chest with dark speckles. The back is brown with heavy white streaks, and the tail is barred white and black. Males and females look alike.
Unlike other wrens that typically hide in vegetation, the cactus wren seems to have no fear. They perch a top cacti and other shrubs to announce their presence and forage out in the open. These birds do not cock their tails over their back the way other wrens do. Instead, Cactus wrens fan their tail feathers, flashing white tail tips.
Cactus wrens, as we have mentioned in previous podcasts, make more than one nest a year, its spherical, with males and females occupying different nests through out the year. Cactus Wren is an insect eater. When feeding its nestlings it will pull the wings of the grasshopper before it feeds it to its baby. That’s a lot of wings because one Cactus Wren nestling eats 14 grasshoppers a day.
Cactus Wrens live in desert, arid foothills, coastal sage scrub and urban areas of the southwest. They especially love areas with thorny shrubs like the Cholla and Prickly pear.
Cheryl: Rock Wren
Medium-sized wren with a long tail and thin bill. Pale brown above and whitish below with slight buffy or peachy wash on the lower belly. Back and wings are finely speckled. Underpants are finely streaked, but often look whitish.
The small industrious Rock Wren constantly hops around rocks, investigating crannies for insects and spiders, which they extract with their delicate bill. This resourceful species thrives even in bleak desert settings occupied by few other birds. The rock wren is not known to drink water but instead gets all it needs from its food.
Male Rock wren is a truly remarkable singer and can have a large song repertoire of 100 or more songs, many it has learned from its neighbors.
Rock Wrens are on of the few bird species that uses landscapes significantly altered by industry or tother human activity. Nesting is road cuts, railroad tunnels, gravel pits, clearcuts, coalmine spoils, and refuse heaps.
Kiersten: Canyon Wren
A tiny bird with a big voice, the Canyon Wren, sings a gorgeous series of sweet, cascading whistles that echo off the rocky walls of its canyon habitat. Canyon Wrens are incredibly agile birds that hunt for insects mostly among rocks, scaling cliff faces and using their long slender bills to probe into crevices with surgical precision.
They are a warm cinnamon -brown with a salt and pepper pattern on their head, and neat white throat patch. The vertebral column of the Canyon Wren is attached higher on the skull than it is on most birds. This modification, along with a slightly flattened skull, allows a Canyon Wren to probe for food in tight crevices without bumping its head. Canyon Wrens sometimes steal insects trapped in spiderwebs or stowed in wasp nests.
Cheryl: Bewick’s Wren-pronounced Bu-ick’s
The Bewick’s Wren is a medium-size brown wren with a long tail that is often held up. The bill is long and slightly curved. Note the white eyebrows and dark barring on the tail. These are boisterous and curious birds. Their plumage varies regionally from rusty-brown in humid areas to grayish- brown in drier regions.
Bewick’s Wrens are noisy, hyperactive little birds. They are master vocalists that belt out a string of short whistles, warblers, burrs, and trills to attract mates and defend their territory, or scold visitors with raspy calls. A young male Bewick’s wren learns to sing from neighboring adult males while he is coming of age in his parents territory. The songs he develops differ from his father’s, with a note changed here or a syllable there. The melodious signature he acquires between the ages of about 30 and 60 days will be his for life.
These wrens are common in much of the western North America. Bewick’s wrens eat insects, but will eat fruits, seeds and other plant matter especially in winter. Bewick’s wrens build their nests in cavities or on ledges about 30 ft off the ground.
Kiersten: House Wrens
The house wren is a small, nondescript brown bird with a short tail, thin bill and dark barring on wings and tail with a paler throat. House wrens have a effervescent voice and is a common visitor to backyards. Spending its time zipping through shrubs and low tree branches snatching at insects. Because they are cavity nesters, house wrens thrive around buildings, yards, farms, and other human habitations with their many nooks and crannies.
House wrens eat a variety of insects and spiders, including beetles, caterpillars, earwigs and daddy long legs, also small snails for the grit to aid in digestion and calcium.
The house wren has on of the largest ranges of any song bird in North or South America because it breeds from Canada through the west indies and Central America, southward to the southern most point of South America. Generally, Bewick’s wrens and House wrens will not nest in the same areas. So you can imagine the pressure the Bewick’s wren is under with the success of the House wren.
Cheryl: Closing
These amazing small birds are full of personality and big voices so it is a joy to spend time with them here in the Phoenix Valley where it is home to a variety of these wrens.
Monday Apr 03, 2023
Monday Apr 03, 2023
Summary: Spring migration in the Southwest is a wonderful time to get out there with your binoculars and see some fly-through visitors as a special treat. Join Cheryl and Kiersten as they highlight a few birds that visit the southwest only during spring migration.
For our hearing impaired listeners, a transcript of this podcast follows the show notes on Podbean.
Show Notes:
Background bird song: Naturescapes Backyard Birds www.naturescapes.com
Our email address, please reach out with comments, questions, or suggestions: thefeathereddesert@gmail.com
Transcript
Host Voice: Welcome to the Feathered Desert a podcast all about desert bird feeding in the Southwest region of the United States. (bird calls and songs play)
Kiersten: Intro – This episode will be posted during spring bird migration and Cheryl and I thought we’d discuss a few birds that pass through the southwest and phoenix valley area that you should be on the lookout for!
Cheryl – To clarify, spring migration in the southwestern United States begins at the end of March through April and even into the beginning of May. The birds we’re going to discuss today are ones that will fly through from Central and South America to their summer breeding grounds in Northern United States and Canada. We are lucky enough that in the southwestern United States and the Phoenix Valley we’re in their flight path.
Kiersten – Let’s start off with some flashy visitors that we’ve been lucky enough to see the last few years, orioles! Two species of orioles are commonly seen in the Phoenix valley as they migrate through to California, Oregon, and Washington state. The Hooded Oriole and the Bullock’s Oriole are both seen in the Southwest during spring migration.
The hooded oriole male will be either a bright sunset orange or yellow with a deep black throat patch and black wings and tail. The female is yellow with gray wings and no throat patch. They are attracted to tubular flowers, like ocotillo, and sugar water feeders. You can put out sugar feeders made specifically for orioles or just use your hummingbird feeder.
The Bullock’s Oriole male will have an orange face with a bright yellow body, black on the head and small black bib under the beak. They have a wide white wing bar with black shoulders and a yellow and black tail. The female has a paler yellow face and body with dark gray wings. Both species of orioles will have sharp, thin beaks that allow them to get inside tubular flowers and to peck at the bottom of flowers to get to the nectar. When you’re out hiking or just running errands and you see a medium size bright yellow bird with a long beak and long tail, you’re probably looking at an oriole.
Cheryl - Hummingbirds
In Arizona we can see 16 different species of hummingbirds at some point during the year. Many of them will over summer with us in the White Mountains and the Sky Island Mountains and, of course, we have two to three species that live in the southwest, especially Arizona, all year. But one species only migrates through on their way to California and the upper states. This is the Rufous Hummingbird. This hummer gets its name from the orange color that dominates the male’s coloration. Males are orange on their head, back, tail, and chest with green on their shoulders. Their gorget feathers are reddish-orange. Females are green on the head, back, and wings with orange on their flanks and upper tail. Their chest is white with a tiny patch of red on the chin.
They’re a smaller size hummer at 3.75 inches but they are big on attitude. Keep an eye out for them during spring migration at you feeders or blooming plants. If you see a streak of orange the size of a hummingbird you’ve just seen a Rufous Hummingbird.
Kiersten – Wilson’s Warbler
Our next songbird is a small flash of yellow that overwinters in Central America and can breed as far north as the boreal forests of Newfoundland, Ontario, and Nova Scotia. Males and females look virtually the same with bright yellow faces, chests, and bellies. The top of the head is black with olive green on the neck, back, and wings. This little one is just under 5 inches and consumes mainly insects. They like wooded areas around streams and can be seen refueling in places where insects are plentiful.
If you have a bird bath in your back yard and have a pesticide free yard with native plants that attract insects you very well may see this songbird visiting as they fly through. Sometimes they can be seen eating mealworms offered in an open feeder or maybe taking advantage of some easily seen suet.
Keep watch for a bright flash of yellow as you’re bird watching this spring and you may spot the Wilson’s Warbler. A great place to look for them in the Phoenix Valley could be the Gilbert Riparian Area in the city of Gilbert.
Cheryl – Solitary Sandpiper
This is our first water bird. This sandpiper overwinters in lower Central America and breeds in Northern Canada. They migrate through the United States in spring and fall. This is a long, yellow legged water bird with a long beak and medium sized body. Their belly is bright white while the rest of their body is a mottled brown and white with an eye-pleasing spotted pattern.
They migrate at night, individually or in small groups. They are not easily seen during migration but you might be able to catch a glimpse of them at a local pond or lake. They can be found at almost any body of water including brackish ponds, freshwater ponds, and woodland streams. You’ll see them wading in the water dipping their beaks under the surface of the water searching for aquatic insects and crustaceans. A great place to find them in the Phoenix Valley will be the Gilbert Riparian Area if they make a stopover here in Arizona.
Kiersten – Lazuli Bunting
This beautiful blue songbird overwinters in western Mexico and breeds in the northwestern United States. Some can be found in Northern Arizona during the spring and summer but they mostly fly through during spring migration. The Lazuli Bunting male is a brilliant, almost aquamarine blue on the head, back, and tail with a rusty brown chest. The female is a dusty brown all over. They have a small beak that helps them eat small seeds from weeds and trees.
At almost six inches this bird can be seen in various types of landscapes including brushy areas as well as pasture. They don’t stay here in the Phoenix Valley during the summer but might take a quick refueling break in an inviting backyard with a birdbath or seed feeder. You may also see them in one of our natural parks. Keep your eyes open for a pop of blue this spring and you might catch a glimpse of this amazing bunting.
Cheryl – Olive-sided Flycatcher
This is a large flycatcher at 7.5 inches and is essentially olive colored from head to tail. The chin is bright white while the belly is more of a buff color. It has a small crest on the head. This flycatcher has the longest migration of any North American flycatcher migrating from southern central America to the boreal forest of Canada and Alaska.
They prefer forested areas where they catch insects on the wing. With such as long migration, they will make several stops to refuel on their long journey. We do have two other flycatchers that over summer with us in Arizona. The Olive-sided flycatcher is two inches larger that the Dusky flycatcher and is darker in coloring than the Ash-throated flycatcher. These tips can help you identify this spring visitor.
Kiersten – Now these are not all the migratory birds that you can see here in the southwestern US and the Phoenix Valley, but these are a few that you can put on your bird list this year. A great resource to find out what migratory birds may be near you is eBird. You can download the app or check out the website developed and run by Cornell University’s Lab of Ornithology. It uses real time information downloaded by birders to identify where they are seeing birds. What great motivation to grab your binoculars and get out there!