Riparian forests are invaluable in all regions and climates around the world, but as one might imagine, they are especially critical in arid regions like southeastern Arizona. While a plethora of bird species cluster along the rivers, breeding in the complex, multi-level gallery forests, even more incorporate these riparian corridors into their migratory pathways.
With this in mind, I knew that a good portion of our time birding in southeastern Arizona would need to be spent along such rivers, and we found a few locations that lived up to their reputations as particularly good spots to find neat birds.
(In case you missed it, in Part I of this series, we visited
Madera Canyon.)
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| The San Pedro River, near Sierra Vista |
The Santa Cruz River, which we visited near Tubac, has its headwaters in high grasslands to the east of the town of Patagonia. From there, it flows south into Mexico before changing its course to flow north past Tucson where it eventually joins the Gila River. The Gila River flows west toward Yuma to join the Colorado River, which drains into the Gulf of California (also known as the Sea of Cortez.) The Santa Cruz river is around 185 miles in length and is naturally an intermittent stream. During the dry season, water in intermittent streams flows only below the sandy surface. In certain places, underlying impermeable bedrock forces water to the surface, creating a more reliable source of water year-round. It is along these sections of the stream that settlements like Tumacacori and Tubac have been able to survive and persist.
The riparian forest of cottonwood and willows along the Santa Cruz River represents one of the most endangered ecosystems in the United States. Ground water pumping has lowered the level of the hidden subsurface water, so today the surface water that we see in the river between Rio Rico and Tubac is almost entirely treated effluent from the Nogales International Wastewater Treatment Facility. While this is more or less adequate to maintain the riparian forest ecosystem for wildlife, visitors are advised to avoid any and all contact with the water.
To learn more about the value and critical status of the Santa Cruz River, I recommend exploring the informative website put together by the
Friends of the Santa Cruz River.
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| The De Anza Trail along the Santa Cruz River, near Tubac |
Eric and I only explored a very small section of the Santa Cruz River along the De Anza Trail, a four mile segment of which links historic Tumacacori and Tubac. But even our short sojourn along this historic trail produced an impressive array of birds, including
Gray Hawks, Gila Woodpeckers, Vermillion Flycatchers,
Yellow-breasted Chats, Brown-crested Flycatchers and Summer Tanagers.
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| Vermillion Flycatcher |
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| Brown-crested Flycatcher |
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| Summer Tanager |
From Tubac and the Santa Cruz River, it is a short drive southeast to another cluster of world-class birding destinations. Together, Patagonia Lake State Park,
The Nature Conservancy's Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve and
Tucson Audubon's Paton Center for Hummingbirds provide some of southeastern Arizona's finest birding opportunities.
We spent a short time at Patagonia Lake, where we spotted several Lucy's Warblers and a small flock of Neotropic Cormorants (along with an assortment of flycatchers, warblers and grosbeaks, among others.) Unfortunately, the Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, which is exactly when we visited. But it is definitely a place to come back to!
Practically next door to the Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve, just off the main road through Patagonia, is The Paton Center for Hummingbirds, set on a large, wooded residential property. When the Patons began gardening here in the 1970's, it wasn't long before they took notice of the astounding diversity of feathered friends showing up in their yard. In their generosity, they invited birders into their yard to watch the birds. The tradition continued as the vision grew, and today the property is run by the Tucson Audubon Society and welcomes birders year-round, free of charge, from dawn to dusk.
The little feathered mascot of the Paton Center is their resident Violet-crowned Hummingbird.
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| Violet-crowned Hummingbird |
Feeders in the gardens that surround a covered seating area attract hummingbirds, finches, grosbeaks, woodpeckers, doves and so much more! The Patons' yard is a quiet, green oasis filled with birds; watching them is mesmerizing.
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| Gila Woodpecker |
Much of the yard is planted with native plants and includes a native wildflower meadow (particularly attractive to butterflies), a pond, and a small stream, along with a variety of feeders. The Patons' garden and the diversity of birdlife it attracts is a wonderful testament to the effectiveness of using native plants to landscape with wildlife in mind.
Though the Patons' yard is situated near Sonoita Creek and bordered by forested habitat in the middle of one of North America's greatest birding hotspots, and my yard at home is... not any of those things... it still inspired me to put a little more effort into making our property attractive to the birds in our area. (And just this morning, I was rewarded by the opportunity to watch three Nuttall's Woodpeckers chirp and flit and chase each other around our yard, from tree to tree! No yard that is home to woodpeckers can ever be accused of being boring!)
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| Wildlife pond in the Patons' garden |
Eric had to more or less drag me away from the gardens and feeders at the Patons'! But the next day, we paid a visit to another birding hotspot that came highly recommended: the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area and the San Pedro House, just east of Sierra Vista.
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| A Western Screech Owl at the San Pedro House |
With its headwaters in Mexico, the San Pedro River flows north past the Arizona towns of Sierra Vista and Benson before joining the Gila River as one of the last free flowing rivers in the southwest. As you might imagine, a riparian corridor such as this has had immense value in this otherwise dry landscape for thousands of years, as first the Clovis Paleo-Indian people hunted and lived here. They were followed by several Native American tribes, and the Spanish and Mexicans arrived on the scene in the late 1700's. In addition to providing a vital source of water and resources for humans, the riparian forest provides a critically important migratory pathway and home for over 300 species of birds.
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| Mexican Duck along the San Pedro River |
In 1995, the San Pedro River became the American Bird Conservancy's first "globally important bird area" in the United States, dubbed the "largest and best example of riparian woodland remaining" in the desert Southwest. One of the the Southwest's few remaining gallery forests of Fremont cottonwood and Gooding willow is found along this protected forty-mile riparian corridor, providing invaluable habitat for birds such as the Yellow-billed Cuckoo,
Green Kingfisher and Gray Hawk.
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| Vermillion Flycatcher |
The grounds around the San Pedro House (which functions as a visitor center and bookstore) have been landscaped beautifully, with meandering pathways through gardens of native plants. Scattered throughout the gardens are bird feeders and bird baths, attracting a delightful array of species.
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| Blue Grosbeak |
Blue Grosbeaks (above) and Yellow-breasted Chats (below) were fairly abundant here; they occur closer to home in California's Central Valley as well, but are difficult to find and never very common!
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| Yellow-breasted Chat |
Once again, these gardens are an excellent example of how we can better integrate our homes into the surrounding landscape, making our yards attractive to beneficial wildlife while saving resources at the same time! Everyone wins!
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| The gardens at the San Pedro House |
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| Cholla flowers |
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| House Finch |
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| Say's Phoebe |
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| Inca Dove |
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| Western Screech Owl |
From the San Pedro House, we ventured up into the
Sky Islands of the Huachuca Mountains in Part III of our Arizona birding adventure.
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