Favorite Birds of 2019
2019 has been an excellent year of birding. In California, we trekked from the lofty mountains to the rugged coast, as well as back and forth across our Great Valley's grasslands and wetlands. Beyond our state's borders, birding trips led us from the deserts and sky islands of Arizona to the Low Country of South Carolina, as I tallied up nearly 100 "lifers" in the last 365 days.
In Southeastern Arizona, a birder's dream destination, we spent time in the Santa Rita and Huachuca Mountains, enchanting places of unexpected natural beauty that boast a never-ending assemblage of incredible birds. Some of my very favorite and most exciting birds were Elegant Trogons, Elf Owls, Whiskered Screech-owls, and Rivoli's, Broad-billed and Violet-crowned Hummingbirds.
Other lifers in Arizona included: a flock of Neotropic Cormorants; Zone-tailed and Gray Hawks; Chihuahuan Ravens and Mexican Jays; Lesser Nighthawks and Mexican Whip-poor-wills; Inca Doves; Gilded Flickers, Gila and Arizona Woodpeckers; Dusky-capped, Brown-crested and Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers; Yellow-breasted Chats and Painted Redstarts; Bridled Titmice; Hepatic and Summer Tanagers; Varied Bunting, Blue Grosbeaks, Northern Cardinals, Pyrrhuloxia and so much more!
Read my full accounts of birding in Arizona here:
Madera Canyon
Huachuca Mountains (Sky Islands)
Riparian Woodlands Along the Santa Cruz and San Pedro Rivers
Saguaro Forests and Sonoran Desert Scrub
Though I certainly consider our Arizona trip to have been a wonderful success, I did miss a handful of species I would have dearly liked to have seen: Montezuma's Quail, Mexican Spotted Owl, Green Kingfisher, and a few tricky little birds, like Buff-breasted Flycatcher, Northern Beardless Tyrannulet and Rose-throated Becard, come to mind. (I missed a lot more than this; these are just a few that we consciously tried for without any luck!)
Later in the summer, we packed our bags a second time and flew across the country to visit family (and historic sites) in the Carolinas and Virginia. Most of my birding time was spent in South Carolina, and I fell in love with the swamps and tidal wetlands along the coast.
As it was my first birding venture on the East Coast, I saw a lot of common birds for the first time, like Blue Jays, Carolina Chickadees, Carolina Wrens, Tufted Titmice, Chimney Swifts, and Gray Catbirds.
Along the coast, I added Laughing Gulls, Royal Terns, Sandwich Terns, and Anhingas to my life list, along with lots of new wading birds, like the Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, White and Glossy Ibis, Yellow-crowned Night-heron, and Wood Stork.
New warblers included the Northern Parula, Prothonotary Warbler, Hooded Warbler, Pine Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler and American Redstart. It is always incredible to put your binoculars on a brilliant little warbler for the first (or fiftieth!) time. (Next time I go to a place as warbler-rich as the East Coast - especially during migration - I'll have to get my hands on a copy of The Warbler Guide!)
Other real stunners of the South included Swallow-tailed Kites, Red-headed Woodpeckers, Painted Buntings and Indigo Buntings.
While touring battlefields and National Military Parks, peering through binoculars while Eric reveled in the historic significance of these hallowed places, I encountered the Eastern counterparts of quite a few familiar Western birds: the Eastern Meadowlark, Eastern Kingbird, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Eastern Phoebe, Eastern Towhee, Eastern Bluebird and Ruby-throated Hummingbird.
In the longleaf pine forests, we were fortunate enough to see two really special birds, a nocturnal Chuck-will's-widow, and an endangered Red-cockaded Woodpecker.
But again, what fun would it have been if I saw everything there is to see on my first visit to a new place? Needless to say, I missed plenty of birds. A number of little warblers and vireos evaded me, and I missed seeing a Roseate Spoonbill several times (I tried really hard for that one). I also would have loved to have been able to add an Eastern Screech-owl to my list!
Closer to home, I managed to see a few new birds this year as well, most notably a pair of hunting Short-eared Owls, a Rough-legged Hawk visiting for the winter, a lonely Long-tailed Duck, and a Willow Flycatcher passing through during fall migration. A real rare beauty was the leucistic Black Phoebe I spotted at the end of November.
Before wrapping up, it would be unfair if I neglected to mention my own backyard birds in an account of this year's favorite birds. In the last 12 months, we have taken out our front and backyard lawns, replacing them with native plants. Most, if not all, of these plants were selected for their appeal to birds in the form of nectar, seeds, berries and shelter. Inspired by wildlife-friendly spaces we visited in Arizona and South Carolina, I added a few bird feeders and birdbaths. As the saying goes, "if you build it, they will come." Now, even during those stretches of days (or weeks) when I can't get out to a local birding spot, let alone travel across the country, I can still count on my backyard birds to bring me entertainment and joy. A flock of House Finches, a dozen or more Mourning Doves, a few feisty Anna's Hummingbirds, and, in the winter, plenty of White-crowned Sparrows, can be relied upon nearly every time I look out the window. These are certainly some of my favorite birds as well!
So, you might be wondering, where to next?
There are plenty of places in California I have yet to visit, and still more places I would gladly return to next year and every year! The coast redwoods (to try for Spotted Owls), Yosemite National Park (to seek out California's elusive Great Gray Owls), my beloved Monterey Bay, and the Mojave and Colorado Deserts are all places I plan to visit again and again! Still other areas, like the coast and chaparral of Southern California, the Channel Islands, the Sacramento Valley and Tule Lake remain to be explored. Beyond California, bird-rich places like the southern tip of Texas, Florida's Everglades, and even Alaska, are calling my name! Someday... someday I'll get there... !!
Happy birding in 2020!!
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| Quite the prize: an Elegant Trogon in southeastern Arizona |
In Southeastern Arizona, a birder's dream destination, we spent time in the Santa Rita and Huachuca Mountains, enchanting places of unexpected natural beauty that boast a never-ending assemblage of incredible birds. Some of my very favorite and most exciting birds were Elegant Trogons, Elf Owls, Whiskered Screech-owls, and Rivoli's, Broad-billed and Violet-crowned Hummingbirds.
 |
| Rivoli's Hummingbird in southeastern Arizona |
Other lifers in Arizona included: a flock of Neotropic Cormorants; Zone-tailed and Gray Hawks; Chihuahuan Ravens and Mexican Jays; Lesser Nighthawks and Mexican Whip-poor-wills; Inca Doves; Gilded Flickers, Gila and Arizona Woodpeckers; Dusky-capped, Brown-crested and Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers; Yellow-breasted Chats and Painted Redstarts; Bridled Titmice; Hepatic and Summer Tanagers; Varied Bunting, Blue Grosbeaks, Northern Cardinals, Pyrrhuloxia and so much more!
 |
| Blue Grosbeak in Arizona |
Read my full accounts of birding in Arizona here:
Madera Canyon
Huachuca Mountains (Sky Islands)
Riparian Woodlands Along the Santa Cruz and San Pedro Rivers
Saguaro Forests and Sonoran Desert Scrub
Though I certainly consider our Arizona trip to have been a wonderful success, I did miss a handful of species I would have dearly liked to have seen: Montezuma's Quail, Mexican Spotted Owl, Green Kingfisher, and a few tricky little birds, like Buff-breasted Flycatcher, Northern Beardless Tyrannulet and Rose-throated Becard, come to mind. (I missed a lot more than this; these are just a few that we consciously tried for without any luck!)
 |
| Violet-crowned Hummingbird in southeastern Arizona |
Later in the summer, we packed our bags a second time and flew across the country to visit family (and historic sites) in the Carolinas and Virginia. Most of my birding time was spent in South Carolina, and I fell in love with the swamps and tidal wetlands along the coast.
As it was my first birding venture on the East Coast, I saw a lot of common birds for the first time, like Blue Jays, Carolina Chickadees, Carolina Wrens, Tufted Titmice, Chimney Swifts, and Gray Catbirds.
Along the coast, I added Laughing Gulls, Royal Terns, Sandwich Terns, and Anhingas to my life list, along with lots of new wading birds, like the Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, White and Glossy Ibis, Yellow-crowned Night-heron, and Wood Stork.
 |
| Anhinga in South Carolina |
New warblers included the Northern Parula, Prothonotary Warbler, Hooded Warbler, Pine Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler and American Redstart. It is always incredible to put your binoculars on a brilliant little warbler for the first (or fiftieth!) time. (Next time I go to a place as warbler-rich as the East Coast - especially during migration - I'll have to get my hands on a copy of The Warbler Guide!)
Other real stunners of the South included Swallow-tailed Kites, Red-headed Woodpeckers, Painted Buntings and Indigo Buntings.
 |
| Painted Bunting in South Carolina |
While touring battlefields and National Military Parks, peering through binoculars while Eric reveled in the historic significance of these hallowed places, I encountered the Eastern counterparts of quite a few familiar Western birds: the Eastern Meadowlark, Eastern Kingbird, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Eastern Phoebe, Eastern Towhee, Eastern Bluebird and Ruby-throated Hummingbird.
In the longleaf pine forests, we were fortunate enough to see two really special birds, a nocturnal Chuck-will's-widow, and an endangered Red-cockaded Woodpecker.
But again, what fun would it have been if I saw everything there is to see on my first visit to a new place? Needless to say, I missed plenty of birds. A number of little warblers and vireos evaded me, and I missed seeing a Roseate Spoonbill several times (I tried really hard for that one). I also would have loved to have been able to add an Eastern Screech-owl to my list!
 |
| Northern Cardinal in Arizona |
Closer to home, I managed to see a few new birds this year as well, most notably a pair of hunting Short-eared Owls, a Rough-legged Hawk visiting for the winter, a lonely Long-tailed Duck, and a Willow Flycatcher passing through during fall migration. A real rare beauty was the leucistic Black Phoebe I spotted at the end of November.
 |
| Leucistic Black Phoebe at Merced NWR |
Before wrapping up, it would be unfair if I neglected to mention my own backyard birds in an account of this year's favorite birds. In the last 12 months, we have taken out our front and backyard lawns, replacing them with native plants. Most, if not all, of these plants were selected for their appeal to birds in the form of nectar, seeds, berries and shelter. Inspired by wildlife-friendly spaces we visited in Arizona and South Carolina, I added a few bird feeders and birdbaths. As the saying goes, "if you build it, they will come." Now, even during those stretches of days (or weeks) when I can't get out to a local birding spot, let alone travel across the country, I can still count on my backyard birds to bring me entertainment and joy. A flock of House Finches, a dozen or more Mourning Doves, a few feisty Anna's Hummingbirds, and, in the winter, plenty of White-crowned Sparrows, can be relied upon nearly every time I look out the window. These are certainly some of my favorite birds as well!
 |
| Mourning Dove in my Central Valley backyard |
So, you might be wondering, where to next?
There are plenty of places in California I have yet to visit, and still more places I would gladly return to next year and every year! The coast redwoods (to try for Spotted Owls), Yosemite National Park (to seek out California's elusive Great Gray Owls), my beloved Monterey Bay, and the Mojave and Colorado Deserts are all places I plan to visit again and again! Still other areas, like the coast and chaparral of Southern California, the Channel Islands, the Sacramento Valley and Tule Lake remain to be explored. Beyond California, bird-rich places like the southern tip of Texas, Florida's Everglades, and even Alaska, are calling my name! Someday... someday I'll get there... !!
Happy birding in 2020!!
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