Plumbeous Vireo

I had a fondness for the plumbeous vireo before I saw it. I knew it was a bird I might see in southeastern Arizona. In March I saw a plumbeous kite in Guatemala and now knew what plumbeous meant. I knew it would be gray, but the term "gray" can't compare to "plumbeous" for pomposity and lack of clarity. And vireos and I don't really get along. They are small, dart about and are hard enough to see, let alone photograph. My guide, Jake, mentioned the term "plumbeous" quite a few times when I was with him. Tiny gray birds that he mentioned that I sometimes saw, but mostly didn't. When I got home I prayed for some sort of miracle that I may have captured one in a photograph somewhere along the way. The first breakthrough came in a post on iNaturalist where I put in some photographs of red-eyed vireo. One identifier noted that I had inserted the face of a plumbeous vireo among them. I was thrilled to remove that photo and insert it on its own - my first plumbeous vireo. 

This tiny, beautiful , hard to see face, ringed by verdant green, was my first introduction. It was high up in Madera Canyon. 

But later I struck paydirt. In Ramsey Canyon Reserve I'd commissioned Jake to take my photos. My left shoulder was irritated and raising the heavy camera upward and shooting photos of birds in the sky and trees was causing my shoulder great pain and irritation. I asked Jake if I could hand him my camera and let him take the photos, and he consented. Fortunately, a plumbeous kite was a benefactor of this hand-off and Jake got some good photos for me. 

I've fallen in love. Isn't this a gorgeous bird? Suhk kind, gentle eyes, dainty little features. An inquisitiveness to it.

Illustration from Birds of the World. 

Range from Birds of the World. Unlike many of the other birds we saw, this one ranges further north than southeastern Arizona. 

Arizona Woodpecker

I first heard of the Arizona woodpecker when my son, Sam, visited southeastern Arizona. He specifically mentioned seeing them near the Santa Rita Lodge in Madera Canyon, the first I'd also ever heard of it. When I visited southeastern Arizona in late May I was disappointed to see only one Arizona woodpecker, a female, and it was at the Santa Rita Lodge. It is brown and white and only the male has red on the head. 

Illustration of a male from Birds of the World. 

Range from Birds of the World. 

The article in Birds of the World notes that the Arizona woodpecker can be hard to locate while nesting. It also indicates it  is one of about three dozen species of Mexican bird species that reach their northern breeding limit in the southwestern U.S. These birds share the same habitats with the blue-throated mountain-gem, Rivoli's hummingbird, coppery-tailed trogon, sulphur-bellied flycatcher and others. I think these are the birds that I primarily saw on my recent trip and made it such a wonderful adventure.  

Rufous-Winged Sparrow

One of the marvelous things about hiring a birding guide is that they get paid to know things about rare and unusual birds, such as where they can be found. For someone like me, hiring one of these people is the only way I will ever get to see one of these. 

Per Birds of the World, the rufous-winged sparrow was "[o]ne of the last bird species in the United States to be discovered and described...[It] is an uncommon resident of local distribution in the Sonoran Desert region from south-central Arizona to northern Sinaloa, Mexico. The first specimens of the species were taken" in 1872 near Tucson and between that date and 1886 the "numbers of this species...declined, and one last specimen was taken" in 1886 "before the species seemingly disappeared from Arizona until 1915...The sparrow's preferred habitat of thornbush and mixed bunchgrass is limited, and grazing appears to have diminished its numbers and distribution."  Wikipedia notes it is "is considered uncommon throughout its range."

My guide, Jake Thompson, met me at Veterans Memorial Park in Sierra Vista. There at the chain-link fenced lined edge of the park was some original desert of the type preferred by this sparrow. Jake was listening for its call and soon heard it and finally pinpointed its location in a tree. Something so unassuming and plain turns into a treasure in a birder's eyes.

Illustration from Birds of the World.

Range from Birds of the World. 

Five-Striped Sparrow

My guide, Jake Thompson, took me into the fairly rugged and sparsely vegetated Tumacacori Mountains, up into Rock Corral Canyon, over some roads that my sedan would have had difficulty with. Down at the bottom of a relatively steep hill, in a jumble of desert trees, he began his imitation of the five-striped sparrow call and kept it up for what seemed like 15 or 20 minutes. He would get a view of the sparrow, call me over for some photos, and kept trying. This sparrow is quite distinctive and handsome. It appears to be a tree Jake has visited often as a reliable spot for this species and his lifer seeking clients. 

The five stripes are the two supercilia above the eye, the white stripe under each ear covert and the white stripe down the middle of the chin and throat. The white stripes are separated by black. It has a black spot between its gray chest and white belly. Sexes look alike. 

Illustration from Birds of the World. 

It was first discovered in Arizona in 1957, the year of my birth, and it is not known if it was a result of recent range expansion  or observers searching appropriate habitat. It is a very small population in Arizona, only about 47 to 54 singing males were annually detected in surveys during the early 1990s. Like many of the rarities in southeastern Arizona, it is a Mexican bird that just happens to have crossed the border into similar surroundings. 

Range from Birds of the World. 

Botteri's Sparrow

My guide, Jake Thompson, knew right where to find this bird. We were looking for Botteri's sparrow. We were in Madera Canyon in the Santa Rita Mountains of southeastern Arizona and drove out of the canyon a ways and turned on to the dirt road to Box Canyon in what Jake referred to as Florida Wash. Jake walked over into some bushes at the edge of a large grass field and a minute or two later called me over. It is a common bird in its range, but it is a rarity in the U.S. because its range is so restricted. It is found in a small section of southeastern Arizona and a small section of southern Texas. Otherwise, it is predominantly a bird of Mexico. It was not found in Arizona from the 1890s to the mid-20th century because of excessive livestock grazing which ruined the grasses it liked to live in. Since efforts have been made to restore the grasslands, even though it is not the native preferred grass, it has returned due to introduced non-native grasses, although at lower population densities. 

Range from Birds of the World.

In Arizona it breeds in small, isolated colonies in semidesert grassland. It is abundant in pockets of healthy un-grazed or lightly grazed grasslands, fragmented by agricultural pressures. 

Jake had me come over by him, he had me line up facing a small tree, then pointed straight ahead into the center of the tree, and there it stood, very cooperative for my photos. If only some of the other birds would be so cooperative. 

Illustration from Birds of the World. 

Red-Faced Warbler

The red-faced warbler is a bird I really wanted to see in southeastern Arizona. It has a black band on the crown that extends down the sides of the head and reminds me of an old friar. A truly spectacular and distinctive looking bird. I saw it up Miller Canyon in the Huachuca Mountains.

Illustration from Birds of the World. 

Range from Birds of the World. This range looks like the ranges of lots of other birds we saw. Heavy in Central America and Mexico and up into Arizona and New Mexico. 

 

Painted Redstart

The painted redstart is a gorgeous bird that moves around so fast it is hard to photograph. It flits around, wings and tail whirring, jerking, in constant frenzy. They are insectivorous and apparently this behavior stirs up the insects. I saw a redstart up Madera Canyon and was unable to get a decent photograph. The photographs below were taken up Miller Canyon, in the Huachuca Mountains.

 

Another Arizona/New Mexico extension of a Central America and Mexico bird, but it extends further into the U.S. than a lot of the other southeastern Arizona specialties. 

Illustration from Birds of the World.