My backyard list - Tucson AZ (1 Viewer)

[PumaMan]

I am not a birder. I wish I was. Here are the birds I've seen on my 1.5 acre lot. I live out away from Tucson and my lot is 80% natural desert flora -- only the area right around my house is cleared and cultivated. I think my favorite bird is the Cactus Wren. A curious and inquisitive bird, always coming in to my garage looking for bugs and will even go inside my truck if I leave the windows open. I've been feeding the birds for 25 years now -- one of my favorite pastimes. I also have a 24 hr water source -- a godsend for birds and other critters here in the Sonoran Desert.

Black-headed Grosbeak (Spring - May)
Black Phoebe (Winter) ????
Blue Grosbeak (Summer)
Bronzed Cowbird (Spring - Apr)
Brown-headed Cowbird (Summer)
Cactus Wren
Canyon Towhee
Cooper's Hawk
Crow/Raven
Curve-billed Thrasher
Desert Cardinal (Pyrrhuloxia)
Desert (Black-throated) Sparrow
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Gambel's Quail
Gila Woodpecker
Greater Roadrunner
Great Horned Owl
Great-tailed Grackle (Summer)
Harris's Hawk
Hooded Oriole
House Finch
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Lesser Goldfinch
Lesser Nighthawk (Summer)
Mourning Dove
Northern Cardinal
Phainopepla
Red-winged Blackbird (Summer)
Rock Pigeon (Rock Dove)
Starling
Turkey Vulture
Verdin
Western Screech-Owl (heard just after dark)
White-throated Sparrow (Winter)
White-winged Dove (Spring - Apr)

Hummingbirds:

Costa's
Anna's
Rufous (one time during spring or fall migration)

 

[tucansam]

I am SE of Tucson and appreciate your list. I am trying to ID the birds that come into my yard, so I will use your list as a starting point.

 

[PumaMan]

My pleasure. I'm glad it is useful for someone.

 

[Madjackdog]

I’ve got news for you. If it talks, walks, and looks like a duck, then it is a duck. My point being, you are a birder, and the very best kind. Your friend from Buckeye, AZ.
PS - Not sure if I have a favorite bird, but if I did, it might be the Cactus Wren - never shy, always snoopy!

 

[PumaMan]

I’ve got news for you. If it talks, walks, and looks like a duck, then it is a duck. My point being, you are a birder, and the very best kind. Your friend from Buckeye, AZ.
PS - Not sure if I have a favorite bird, but if I did, it might be the Cactus Wren - never shy, always snoopy!

Thanks. I keep a backyard list but that's it.

Basically I love all the birds, really.

 

[raymie]

Your "crow/raven" will be a raven since there are no crows in the Sonoran Desert. Probably a Common Raven but Chihuahuan Ravens are also found in the area.

As for becoming a birder, I think you already are. The next step is just to grab your binoculars and head out and see what you can see! Southeast Arizona is well-known as one of the best parts of the country for birding, adding to your life list shouldn't be too difficult.