RAPTORS
AND WATER BIRDS
January 27 - 31 and February 24 - 28
both Bald and Golden Eagles, Ferruginous and Rough-legged Hawks. Winter rains transform the normally dry Willcox Playa into a shallow 50 to 60 square-mile lake, attracting thousands of sandhill cranes from as far away as Alaska. Up to 12,000 Sandhill Cranes make this area their winter home. Of all the birding sights in Arizona, and there are countless to appreciate, none is more spectacular than the flights of thousands of wintering sandhill cranes in the Playa. Other much sought after species who call Southern Arizona home this time of year include the Mountain Plover, Baird's Sparrow, McCowns and Chestnut-collared Longspurs, Crissal and Bendire's Thrashers,
not the mention the permanent species such as the Verdins, Pyrrhuloxias, Cactus Wrens, Anna's Hummingbirds and Gila Woodpeckers.
MIGRATORY
MAGIC
April 21 - 25 and May 26 - 30
September 22 -26 and October 27 - 31
The Sonoran Desert is primarily a Mexican ecosystem. It attracts birds from all directions. Costa's hummingbirds from the west, rufous-winged sparrows from the east, crested caracaras from the south and Bendire's thrashers from the north. A mix from both temperate and tropical North America adds to the excitement of migration in the spring and the fall. Some avian highlights during the spring and summer seasons include at least one species of trogon, a dozen hummingbird varieties, up to thirty types of flycatchers, and a dazzling assortment of orioles, tanagers, vireos, warblers, grosbeaks and buntings. Fall migration attracts and supports no fewer than eighteen species of hawks, eagles, falcons, kites, and caracara. An astounding twenty-five
species of diurnal birds of prey have been recorded in Southern Arizona.
HUMMINGBIRD
HYSTERIA
July 21 - 25 and August 25 - 29
OUTDOOR ADVENTURES
9402 E. El Cajon Dr.; Tucson, Arizona 85710
Phone/Fax (520) 296-9437
E-mail outdoor@azstarnet.com
