I was down in Sierra Vista for five days last week attending the Southwest Wings Birding and Nature Festival. Each day, before and after the vendor booth hours, my store manager, Ryan, and I were out birdwatching. We left Prescott early Tuesday morning and our first birding stop was the Badger Springs exit off of the I-17 to search for common ground doves.
You would think with the word common in the name of the bird that it would be common, and you would be correct if you lived in Mexico. However, common ground doves are not common in Yavapai County. We were successful in finding one—it was the first time I’d ever seen this species in Yavapai County.
After leaving the festival on Tuesday, we drove down to Ash Canyon Bird Sanctuary. We were hoping to see a rare hummingbird that had been reported there—the plain-capped starthroat. In The Sibley Guide to Birds, it is described as “Large and lanky; long-necked, very long-billed”. The normal range for this species is along the western coast of Mexico.
There were probably over twenty feeders at the sanctuary, and we saw many different varieties of hummingbirds—including Lucifer’s hummingbird—but we didn’t have any luck finding the starthroat.
The next night we went to Beatty’s Guest Ranch in Miller Canyon and witnessed a true hummingbird spectacle. We saw nine different species, including the rare white-eared hummingbird! We also got to see one of the largest hummingbird species in North America, Rivoli’s, and the smallest hummingbird species in North America, the calliope hummingbird, which weighs only 2.8 grams!
Friday night, we went back to Ash Canyon, as there were multiple reports each day in eBird of people seeing the starthroat. We didn’t have to wait long before it came into the yard. In the end, we saw it several times. It liked to perch on some bare limbs, and we also saw it at a feeder! We also saw the elusive Montezuma quail on our way into the Bird Sanctuary.
There wasn’t a lot of daylight left, but we got on the road and drove to the Nature Conservancy property in Ramsey Canyon to look for another rare hummer—the Berylline hummingbird. We didn’t have to wait long before it came to one of the feeders—success!
By now the sun had set, so we decided to stick around and do some night birding, listening for and hoping to see some nocturnal bird species. Right at dusk we started hearing a common poorwill, calling from a distance. Then we started hearing both an elf owl and whiskered screech owls. Shortly thereafter we started hearing a Mexican whip-poor-will. Wow!
Of the four species we were hearing, we only saw one of them—the whiskered screech owl, which was actually a life bird for me. A life bird is when you see a bird species for the first time. It is not very often that I see a life bird in North America.
The next morning, I went back to Ramsey Canyon, arriving before 6:00 a.m. I participated in a docent-guided bird walk. We slowly made our way up the canyon, spotting a variety of birds such as western tanager, painted redstart, sulphur-bellied flycatcher, brown creeper and Arizona woodpecker. As we reached our turn-around point, we were fortunate to first hear and then see a beautiful male elegant trogon. It was the perfect ending to a wonderful bird walk.
Our working “vacation” resulted in observing well over one hundred species including 13 hummingbird species. We also sold a lot of Swarovski binoculars, so it was definitely a successful trip!
Until next week, Happy Birding!
Eric Moore is the owner of The Lookout, in Prescott, where you will find a Hallmark Gold Crown Store, wild bird products, and Vortex and Swarovski optics. Eric has been an avid birder for over 55 years. Eric can be contacted at eric@thelookoutaz.com.
