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| Top 10 Map |
 Gila woodpecker © Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART |
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Birds you might see
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Top 10 Bird Hotspots
Southeast Arizona
Tell someone youre going to Arizona and they say, Thats nice. Tell them you are going to Arizona in July and they say, Thats crazy. Crazy or not, June through August is the best time to bird one of the hottest points on the birding circuit — and to see a surfeit of exquisite birds. How? Where? Easy. Just add water. Even in hot, dry Arizona, water turns the wheel of life.
Make tracks (and reservations) for Ramsey Canyon, a Nature Conservancy preserve. Listen for the croak, croak, croak of the aptly named elegant trogon emanating from streamside sycamores and pray for a glimpse of eared trogon, one of the canyons most uncommon and, thus, most celebrated residents. Down below, at Mile-Hi, the water is sugar coated and 11 or 12 hummingbird species may be present at the feeders around the lodge, including the white-eared (a specialty of the house).
You'll certainly want to journey to the Conservancy's famous Patagonia Preserve, a riverside stronghold for the gray hawk and green kingfisher. For the hardy, a trip to the Conservancy's rugged and beautiful Aravaipa Canyon may earn a treasured glimpse of a black hawk — another species found almost exclusively in Arizona.
Higher up, in the Chiricahua and Huachuca Mountains, altitude changes all the rules. Youll see southern species like Mexican chickadees, red-faced warblers and yellow-eyed junco right alongside northern birds like hermit thrush and red crossbill.
By the way . . . bring a sweater. It gets cold in Arizona in July (at 9,000 feet).
Top 10 Birding Spots was compiled by Pete Dunne who is the director of the New Jersey Audubon Society's Cape May Bird Observatory and author of "Tales of a Low Rent Birder," "Feather Quest" and "Before the Echo."
