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April 17 - 22, 2023
Phoenix, Arizona
April is a great time to view rare birds, migrants as well as the resident birds in one of the most interesting birding locales in North America. This is a must-do trip for anyone interested in experiencing the avifauna of southeast Arizona with Toledo Zoo's knowledgeable Birding Outreach Coordinator and Ornithologist.
Overview
Day 1. Arrive in Tucson
Day 2. Tubac, Patagonia and more
Day 3 & 4. Birding Sierra Vista area
Day 5. Madera Canyon
Day 6. Depart
Our tour will begin in Tucson, AZ with participants arriving on Day 1 and meeting at our hotel. In the morning, we will quickly head out for our first day of birding. This will be a whirlwind trip packed full of as much birding as possible. We will head south to Tubac to bird in a riparian habitat that is great for desert species and has been the site several rare bird sightings over the years including Rose-throated Becard, Rufous-backed Robin and Sinaloa Wren. Specialty breeding birds, such as Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet have been found here as well. We will break for lunch in Tubac and head to our next location in Patagonia. We will stop at the famous Patton's Yard with its great feeder set up to attract lots of birds including Violet-crowned Hummingbirds. From there we will head to the San Rafael Grasslands to look for the newly split Chihuahuan Meadowlark as well as other grassland birds and with some luck a White-tailed Kite. From the grasslands, we have a quick 90 min drive to get to Sierra Vista for dinner and check into the hotel for the evening.
Sierra Vista holds several of my favorite spots to go birding in southern Arizona and we will do our best to hit as many of these spots as possible. Over the next two days we will head into Ramsey Canyon (be prepared for a decent hike here) the birding at this location can be wonderful but on hot days the hike can but fairly strenuous, with that being said, this is our best shot at seeing Red-faced Warbler and other birds that call these sky islands their home. We may also have a chance at seeing an Elegant Trogon here. We will also be going to several locations around town that are on private property/houses with feeders that are amazing opportunities for photographing many species including hummingbirds. We could see up to ten species of hummingbird while in this region.
After two days in the Sierra Vista area, we will head back closer to Tucson to bird at Madera Canyon. This canyon is easily accessible and has some spots nearby where rare birds have shown up over the years. We will also be doing some nighttime birding for owls and nightjars, if we get to town early enough the night before we can head up to Madera that night, if not we will make sure we are up there on our last night. We can get Common Poorwill as well as Whiskered-screech Owl, and the adorable and Elf Owl. Madera Canyon is a great way to experience the change in elevations and therefore the different habitats of this region. At Madera we also have a chance at seeing the Elegant Trogon as well as Arizona Woodpecker and amazing looks at several other species of bird that visit around the feeders. We will also do some shorter hikes this day.
Click here to dowload trip itinerary.
For additional questions, please contact your guide Jeremy at birding@toledozoo.org or 419-385-5721 ext. 3096
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