Tucson: Birds I've seen on (or above) my property (1 Viewer)

Here is a list of birds that I've seen on (or flying over) my property. I've left off the hummingbirds since I have a hard time identifying them. I'm sure they are mostly Anna's and Costa's. (I did positively ID a Rufous during one migration.) My property is almost all virgin Sonoran Desert, except for a small bit up around the house.

Black-headed Grosbeak
Brewer's Sparrow
Bronzed Cowbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Bushtit (?)
Cactus Wren
Canyon Towhee
Cooper's Hawk
Crow/Raven
Curve-billed Thrasher
Desert Cardinal (Pyrrhuloxia)
Desert (Black-throated) Sparrow
Gambel's Quail
Gila Woodpecker
Greater Roadrunner
Great Horned Owl
Great-tailed Grackle
Hooded Oriole
House Finch
Lesser Goldfinch
Lesser Nighthawk
Mourning Dove
Northern Cardinal
Phainopepla
Red-winged Blackbird
Starling
Turkey Vulture
White-winged Dove

The Turkey Vultures have scared the heck out of me more than once. It's when I'm on my hands and knees, working in the yard, this huge shadow floats over me and, startled, I look up to see that a vulture has come down to about ten feet overhead, silently soaring by. They are true masters of soaring.

Nice yard list.

Lisa W said:

Nice yard list.

Click to expand...

Thank you but I know that most of them are so common that people consider them pests. Funny thing is that I haven't seen a new species in several years now. One bird I used to see ten years ago was the Stellar's Jay or Scrub Jay (not sure which). Not often but occasionally. I also see a blue-colored bird from time-to-time but have not been close enough to attempt an ID.

I think my favorite bird is our state bird, the Cactus Wren. If I play Cactus Wren calls real loud on my computer (which is right next to the window) and the window is open, I can get three or four landing on the screen, very angry at the intruder.

My Cactus wrens are very vocal. They really dislike the other birds, but absolutely hate the Curved-bill Thrashers.

From my computer (using WhatBird.com) I've tried calls for all the birds I see outside my den window, which is where most of my feeders are located, and the only ones that react are the Cactus Wrens. They jump on my screen and mimic the calls I create. Oh, if I play a Cooper's Hawk call, all the birds look up but seem to realize it isn't real and go back to feeding. I know that Cactus Wrens are mainly insect eaters but they do eat some seed once in a while. Most of the time they just hang around being mean to the other birds.