Southwest Wings Festival

The 20th Annual Birding and Nature Festival in Sierra Vista, or Southwest Wings, is both educational and fun, as participants learn about birds, reptiles, mammals and insects in southern Arizona. The festival boasts a busy schedule of events including 40 field trips (including overnight trips), a welcome reception, keynote address by Scott Weidensaul (the title [...]

Elegant Trogon (Trogon elegans)

The Elegant Trogon or the Trogon elegans is very similar to the rarer Eared Trogon, the difference being the barred undersurface of the tail and the white breast band. This stunning bird is related to the Quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno), the bird of the Maya emperor-gods. The Trogon has a small habitat range, which barely reaches [...]

Gray Hawk (Asturina nitida)

The Gray Hawk (Asturina nitida) is a small raptor that is 15 inches in length and has a wingspan of 35 inches. It is predominantly gray in color, with its throat and belly being white with barred gray coloring. Its upper tail coverts are white and it has very pale colored plumage under its wings. [...]

Montezuma Quail (Cyrtonyx montezumae)

The Cyrtonyx montezumae, or as it is more commonly known, the Montezuma quail, is seven inches in length and is a small, shy, stocky bird with round wings. It also has a short, rounded brown tail and is basically a ground-dwelling bird. This bird is mainly a Mexican species and can be found along the [...]

Peach-faced Lovebirds Prosper in Arizona

There is something so enjoyable – so soothing – about watching a wild-bird frolic in your backyard. That pleasure increases somewhat when the bird in question is a peach-faced lovebird. These delightful little birds are not only a pleasure to look at, but their curious antics make for enjoyable bird watching.

Birding in Madera Canyon, Arizona

The beautiful Madera Canyon, located in the Santa Rita Mountain Range in southern Arizona, is considered by many to be a bird-watcher’s paradise. The terrain on the approach to Madera Canyon is grasslands, which gives way to mountain forest. The area is renowned for its abundance of bird species and the relatively easy access to watch and photograph birds that are generally not seen elsewhere.

Arizona Snowbirds

Winter weather’s closing in on many North American towns. Most migrant birds have finished their move south, escaping the cold. Why not follow them? A winter trip to SE Arizona is a great cure for a bird-watcher’s winter blues.