How to Watch Spring Migratory Birds in Southeast Arizona

Southeast Arizona, with its wooded canyons and majestic mountains, offers superb birding in spring and summer. While spring is best for migrating birds, you may want to come in the summertime - if you can stand the heat - in hopes of spotting rare hummingbirds and breeders from across the Mexican border.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Hats Or Visors
• Maps
• Bottled Water
• Insect Repellents
• Sunscreen
• Binoculars

1. Choose Tucson as your destination if you're flying. Rent a car and visit Madera Canyon first, as it's less than an hour's drive from Tucson. Hike the trails and look and listen for elegant trogons, as well as other Mexican strays.
2. Travel to Patagonia and bird the Arizona Nature Conservancy's Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Sanctuary. And don't miss the famous Patagonia rest stop, which you'll find written up in any birding guidebook on Southeast Arizona.
3. Drive to Sierra Vista and bird the Huachuca Mountains if possible (sometimes access is limited). Also visit the Nature Conservancy's preserve at Ramsey Canyon, where the hummingbirds are stunning.
4. Stop at the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area. More than 400 species of birds have been recorded here, many of them coming through in migration.
5. Visit the beautiful Chiricahua Mountains, known as one of the best birding spots in the United States. Enter at the small town of Portal and go into Cave Creek Canyon for the best birding.
6. Drive up to Rustler Park and bird the trails there for mountain species.
7. Check out the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum before you leave. Located in Tucson, the museum provides a fascinating look at the plants and animals of the Sonoran Desert.

Tips & Warnings

• Access to the Ramsey Canyon Preserve can be difficult to obtain, so call ahead for rules and regulations.
• It's best to make lodging reservations well ahead of time when birding Southeast Arizona. Some towns are small, and accommodations fill up with birding tour groups. Camping is an option in many places, but you may also have to make reservations.
• A large variety of hummingbirds attracts birders to Southeast Arizona in spring, but the rarest hummers don't arrive until summer - even late summer. This is a great time to bird here, but temperatures are usually sizzling.
• The temperature starts warming up in Arizona in spring, so take bottled water with you wherever you go, especially if you venture off the beaten track (as birders often do).