Birding in Southeastern Arizona: Riparian Woodlands along the Santa Cruz and San Pedro Rivers

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.)

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.

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.

Vermillion Flycatcher

Brown-crested Flycatcher

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.

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. 

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!)

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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!

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!

The gardens at the San Pedro House
Cholla flowers


House Finch

Say's Phoebe

Inca Dove

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.

Comments

Post a Comment

You Might Also Like:

Birds of the Desert: Residents & Spring Migrants

Image
Nearly everyone knows the desert as a barren, desolate land of extremes: high heat, low precipitation; little available food and water; prickly, spiny, unfriendly plants growing in a sea of rocks and sand as far as the eye can see.  But for those who stop and look closer, the desert reveals itself as the beautiful, incredible, mesmerizing place it truly is, teeming with unexpected life. Juvenile male Costa's Hummingbird visiting chuparosa blooms next to our campsite in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. I particularly love the desert in the spring, when the annual wildflowers, cacti, flowering trees and shrubs are all in bloom.  (I've experienced the desert in the searing 120 degree heat of summer, and the rainy, even snowy cold of winter... and spring wins every time!)  Eric and I just returned from a week in the Colorado desert, exploring the imperiled, accidental Salton Sea (more on that coming soon), the vital wetlands of the Sonny Bono Salton ...
Read more

Joshua Tree Woodlands: A Tale of Sloths, Moths and the Trees that Need Them

Image
In 1844, early California explorer John C. Fremont gave a somewhat scathing review of Joshua trees when he wrote, "...their stiff and ungraceful form makes them to the traveler the most repulsive tree in the vegetable kingdom."  Rather unkind, don't you think?  But when Joshua trees were formally described by scientist William Trelease in the 1890's, he noted that Joshua Trees are "the most attractive of all the Yuccas."  I am inclined to agree with this sentiment, and must disagree most heartily with Lieutenant Fremont! I, for one, adore Joshua Trees, with their whimsical shapes and great ecological significance!  If you struggle with plant identification, the iconic Joshua tree, hallmark of the Mojave Desert, is a good place to start.  With densely spiked tufts protruding from the ends of gangly arms stretched towards the heavens, this looks like a plant straight from a Dr. Seuss book....
Read more

A Shorebird Primer: Godwits, Curlews, Willets and Whimbrels

Image
For those of us living in the Great Central Valley, autumn is the time to head to the coast.  Of course, there is no bad time to visit California's magnificent coastline.  But as the heat and haze of summer drag on in the Valley, the sea becomes increasingly tantalizing: September and the onset of autumn bring sunny weather and an abundance of migratory seabirds and shorebirds to our coast. A new birder visiting California's Central Coast will undoubtedly be met with a splendid array of very confusing birds.  Among these are small shorebirds like  "peeps" (sandpipers), Sanderlings and various  plovers .  But the larger birds can be just as confusing, until you learn a few distinguishing features.  Four large shorebirds that are commonly seen (and commonly confused) along California's Central Coast are Godwits, Curlews, Willets and Whimbrels. Marbled Godwit (upper left), Whimbrel (upper right), Long-billed Cu...
Read more

All The Ducks!

Image
On a recent birding trip to Merced National Wildlife Refuge, I tallied up a list of sixteen different species of ducks.  Only a few more species, around twenty in total, are expected in the Central Valley of California's freshwater marshes during the winter, so I consider that to be an excellent day for ducks! North American ducks are broadly separated into two categories, largely based on their methods of foraging for food.   Dabbling ducks , also known as "puddle ducks," tend to frequent shallow water, where they are commonly seen tipping bottoms-up to feed on plant matter and invertebrates in the water and on the muddy bottom.  They are most at home in water, but walk easily on land as well, as their legs are positioned near the center of their bodies.  The wings of dabbling ducks are relatively large, which allows them to take off from the surface of the water, straight up into their air.  Dabbling ducks almost all nest on the ground, near water....
Read more

Birding in Adverse Weather Conditions: Wind and Rain

Image
Though I often extol the virtues and merits of winter in the Central Valley , especially when it comes to birding, the whole truth is that we experience "bad" weather also, just like anywhere else.  But even when the winter weather rolls in, the birds are still out there!  And sometimes, despite our best planning efforts, a birding day happens to coincide with crummy weather.   In that case, what's a birder to do?  Usually, we go birding anyway!   Birders far more intrepid than I regularly brave the ice and snow of northern winters to see their favorite birds, so perhaps you should look to them for real tips on winter birding!  For those of us in the valleys of California, the worst weather we see - wind and rain - is really comparatively mild.  Birding on an extremely windy day! I don't know of anyone who actually likes birding in the rain.  But I would argue that birding in the wind is just as aggravating as trying to bird in the rai...
Read more

Winter Gulls: The Great I.D. Challenge

Image
Gulls are a fun challenge for birders, from beginners to experts.  A few things make gulls an interesting study: they are large and conspicuous in their open habitats, so they are easy to see, easy to put a scope on, and easy to watch and study for long periods of time.  Furthermore, gulls are almost always identifiable as gulls; none of this confusing warbler/vireo/kinglet nonsense! And yet, gulls are almost impossibly difficult!  (Though perhaps not nearly as difficult as Empidonax flycatchers!) An intimidating scene to many a birder: a mixed flock of gulls.  I see five different species of gull here. Oh, and one American Coot in the background. One of the reasons they are so complicated is most gull species take two or three years to achieve adult plumage, and go through multiple molts in a year.  So, you may be looking at three or four gulls together that look like four completely different species, when they are actually just different ages (...
Read more