Locations
Birding Locations
We guide across the state and can meet you anywhere. Below are Arizona’s major birding regions accompanied by a selection of their characteristic birds. Explore these regions/birds for ideas on where to go and what birds to expect.
Tucson - Patagonia - Sierra Vista - Portal
SoutheastERN Arizona
The famous Madrean Sky Islands – where Sonora meets Arizona and isolated mountains harboring woodlands and forests tower above desert valleys like an island archipelago reaching north from the Mexican highlands. This region is the northern limit of dozens of specialty birds more common in Mexico and further south.
The place to go for range restricted specialties like Buff-collared Nightjar, Blue-throated Mountain Gem, Lucifer Hummingbird, Broad-billed Hummingbird, Violet-crowned Hummingbird, Gray Hawk, Short-tailed Hawk, Whiskered Screech-Owl, Elegant Trogon, Arizona Woodpecker, Rose-throated Becard, Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet, Buff-breasted Flycatcher, Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher, Tropical Kingbird, Thick-billed Kingbird, Mexican Chickadee, Black-capped Gnatcatcher, Rufous-winged Sparrow, Botteri’s Sparrow, Five-striped Sparrow, Yellow-eyed Junco, and Rufous-capped Warbler. Other southwestern specialties include Scaled Quail, Montezuma Quail, Green Kingfisher, Chihuahuan Raven, Cassin’s Sparrow, Bronzed Cowbird, Pyrrhuloxia, and Varied Bunting. Rarities include Least Grebe, Plain-capped Starthroat, Berylline Hummingbird, White-eared Hummingbird, Eared Quetzal, Gray-collared Becard, Tufted Flycatcher, Pine Flycatcher, Nutting’s Flycatcher, Yellow-green Vireo, Sinaloa Wren, Blue Mockingbird, Brown-backed Solitaire, Aztec Thrush, White-throated Thrush, Rufous-backed Robin, Streak-backed Oriole, Crescent-chested Warbler, Tropical Parula, Fan-tailed Warbler, Slate-throated Redstart, Flame-colored Tanager, and Yellow Grosbeak. Winter specialties include Lark Bunting, and Baird’s Sparrow.
Left to right: Rufous-winged Sparrow, Baird’s Sparrow, Mexican Jay, Arizona Woodpecker, Northern Beardless-Tyrranulet, Blue-throated Mountain-gem, Mexican Chickadee, Yellow-eyed Junco, Sprague’s Pipit, Buff-breasted Flycatcher.
Prescott - Sedona - Verde Valley
Central Arizona Highlands
The rugged heart of the state – known for its famous rock landscapes and, increasingly, as an extraordinary biological crossroads. The region is a rich and varied mosaic of vegetation communities that could be described as desert southwest meets mountain west, with a smattering of chaparral, a sprinkling of plains grassland, and a dash of Mexico. The habitats and birds in this region are super diverse in a compact geographic area.
The place to observe wider-ranging Arizona specialties including Mexican Whip-poor-will, Rivoli’s Hummingbird, Common Black Hawk, Zone-tailed Hawk, Greater Pewee, Dusky-capped Flycatcher, Mexican Jay, Bridled Titmouse, Olive Warbler, Grace’s Warbler, Red-faced Warbler, Painted Redstart, Hepatic Tanager with southwestern specialties like Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Black Phoebe, Cassin’s Kingbird, Gray Vireo, Crissal Thrasher, Lesser Goldfinch, Black-chinned Sparrow, Canyon Towhee, Rufous-crowned Sparrow, and Scott’s Oriole, and other western birds such as Band-tailed Pigeon, Common Poorwill, White-throated Swift, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Anna’s Hummingbird, Swainson’s Hawk, Flammulated Owl, Western Screech-Owl, Northern Pygmy-Owl, Spotted Owl, Acorn Woodpecker, Gray Flycatcher, Cordilleran Flycatcher, Say’s Phoebe, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Western Kingbird, Hutton’s Vireo, Plumbeous Vireo, Woodhouse’s Scrub Jay, Mountain Chickadee, Violet-green Swallow, Bushtit, Pygmy Nuthatch, Rock Wren, Canyon Wren, Bullock’s Oriole, and Black-throated Gray Warbler. Winter specialties Pacific Wren, Sprague’s Pipit, and McCown’s Longspur
Left to right: Scott’s Oriole, Gray Vireo, Common Black Hawk, Lucy’s Warbler, Red-faced Warbler, Northern Pygmy Owl, Black-chinned Sparrow.
Phoenix - Casa Grande - Ajo
Central Arizona Deserts
The iconic Sonoran Desert – arid low-elevation mountains separated by vast desert valleys that stretch to the horizon. Almost the entire region is composed of upland and lowland desertscrub along with characteristic desert birds. River valleys contain deciduous woodland and wetlands with some of the regions most sought-after specialty birds. The highest elevations of desert mountains harbor semidesert and relict patches of chaparral populated by birds that don’t occur in the deserts below.
The best region in the state to observe Ridgway’s Rail, LeConte’s Thrasher, and the introduced Rosy-faced Lovebird. Other southwestern specialties include Gambel’s Quail, Inca Dove, Ruddy Ground Dove, White-winged Dove, Greater Roadrunner, Lesser Nighthawk, Costa’s Hummingbird, Neotropic Cormorant, Harris’s Hawk, Ferruginous Pygmy Owl, Elf Owl, Burrowing Owl, Gila Woodpecker, Gilded Flicker, Crested Caracara, Vermilion Flycatcher, Brown-crested Flycatcher, Verdin, Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, Cactus Wren, Curve-billed Thrasher, Bendire’s Thrasher, Phainopepla ,Black-throated Sparrow, Abert’s Towhee, Hooded Oriole, and Lucy’s Warbler. Western specialties include Clark’s Grebe, Red-naped Sapsucker (winter), Great-tailed Grackle, and Lawrence’s Goldfinch (winter).
Left to right: Bendire’s Thrasher, Ridgway’s Rail, LeConte’s Thrasher, Ruddy Ground Dove, Gilded Flicker, Inca, Dove, Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, Black-throated Sparrow, Bell’s Vireo.
Flagstaff - Grand Canyon - Page
Northern Arizona
The Colorado Plateau – home to Grand Canyon, the San Francisco Peaks, and the starkly beautiful Painted Desert. The vast majority of the region contains vegetation and birds characteristic of the Great Basin to the north. Scattered mountains and high-elevation plateaus harbor the bulk of Arizona’s subalpine forests and Rocky Mountain Birds. Along its southern edge Madrean habitats and birds reach their northern limits.
The only region in Arizona to observe the rare and endangered California Condor. Other western specialty birds include Dusky Grouse, Eared Grebe, Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Ferruginous Hawk, Williamson’s Sapsucker, Lewis’s Woodpecker, Prairie Falcon, Western Wood-Pewee, Dusky Flycatcher, Pinyon Jay, Steller’s Jay, Clark’s Nutcracker, Juniper Titmouse, American Dipper, Sage Thrasher, Mountain Bluebird, Townsend’s Solitaire, Cassin’s Finch, Brewer’s Sparrow, Sagebrush Sparrow, Green-tailed Towhee, Virginia’s Warbler, and MacGillivray’s Warbler. Wider-ranging western and northern specialties include American Three-toed Woodpecker, Evening Grosbeak, and Red Crossbill. Rare and local irregularities such as Black Rosy-Finch and Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch
Left to right: American Three-toed Woodpecker, Lewis’s Woodpecker, Northern Goshawk, Townsend’s Solitaire, Northern Shrike, MacGillivray’s Warbler, Black Rosy-Finch.