April 23-27, 2026 with Cory Gregory
There is nowhere in the US better for nightbirds than the Southwest. The desert washes, the oak woodlands, and mountain canyons, all of these were sampled in our short trip to southeastern Arizona. We spent nights in both Tucson and Portal to try to tally as many as we could and, I'm happy to report, we did really well!
Our adventure began right away, on our first afternoon/evening. We departed Tucson and took a trip out to the remote California Gulch region to try for a couple key targets. After our picnic dinner, as the sun began to set, more and more of the daytime sounds faded away, giving rise to the nocturnal ones. Common Poorwills started calling from the hillside and then, yes, the Buff-collared Nightjar started singing too! It took some patience but we were eventually rewarded with an incredible view of this range-restricted specialty. Nearby, Elf Owls were going strong and, on our drive back, we even found a nest hole of this tiny predator. Too cool! Kicking things off with this daytrip made for a great first day!
The following morning we packed up and departed Tucson. On our way to Miller Canyon, we stopped briefly at Box Canyon as well, adding a number of new trip birds. The flash of color from the Hooded Oriole was a nice way to wake up, not to mention seeing a Gray Hawk on a nest! Once in Miller Canyon, we enjoyed birding up the canyon, especially when the call "Zone-tailed Hawk!" rang out. Not only did we see this hawk well, we could see it was carrying nesting material! We enjoyed a variety of other species on the walk including Hutton's Vireo, Bridled Titmouse, Bewick's Wren, Painted Redstart, Townsend's Warbler, and others. Of course, the star of the show was the pair of Flame-colored Tanagers that came in right overhead! That afternoon, after lunch, we made our way over to the picturesque Chiricahuas. As we approached, we added Chihuahuan Raven and even a flock of breeding-plumaged Lark Buntings! That evening, we got settled in and ventured out to see what nightbirds we could find. Right off the bat we had crippling views of a Western Screech-Owl singing, and also a Common Poorwill that came to check us out! Farther up the canyon, we were successful in seeing a Whiskered Screech-Owl and Mexican Whip-poor-will nicely. What a day!
Even though this was a nightbirds trip, we definitely birded during the day too! For example, that next morning we birded up the South Fork of Cave Creek. The morning air was full of song from a variety of species like Grace's Warbler, Black-headed Grosbeak, Summer Tanager, and Painted Redstart. Meanwhile, overhead there were Violet-green Swallows and White-throated Swifts careening around the tall canyon walls. But we were on a hunt for something even more special, something that all birders visiting Arizona are keen to see, the Coppery-tailed Trogon. It wasn't long until we heard the distinctive barking of a male up the canyon! We finally tracked it down and boy was he a looker! Afterwards, we visited the Southwestern Research Station and enjoyed the many species of hummingbirds including the huge Blue-throated Mountain-gem. We then visited some feeders in town and enjoyed a front-row seat to a wide range of eye-candy. Hooded, Scott's, and Bullock's orioles came in, Black-throated and White-crowned sparrows flitted about on the ground, a Verdin nibbled at some peanut butter, and Pyrrhuloxia and cardinals brightened the scene up. Midday, we descended the slope out of Portal and ventured into New Mexico for some lunch and a visit to the Chiricahua Desert Museum. And then after a siesta, we drove to the George Walker House in nearby Paradise and enjoyed some more point-blank views of a variety of things like Band-tailed Pigeon and Scott's Oriole. That evening, we climbed the Chiricahuas and did a nightbird session at the higher elevations. Of course, we'll all remember this night for the incredible encounter we had with a very close Flammulated Owl! Absolutely amazing to see this species so well.
The following morning, after our picnic breakfast, we packed up the van and climbed up to Pinery Canyon to do some morning birding. The birding was great and we started tallying targets like Red-faced Warbler, Greater Pewee (heard), Steller's Jay, Brown Creeper, Yellow-eyed Junco, Hepatic Tanager, and, finally, Mexican Chickadee! Whew. We descended out of the mountains, enjoyed seeing a Great Horned Owl nest, and made for Patagonia, where we did lunch and visited the Paton Center for Hummingbirds. New species for us included Abert's Towhee, Black Vulture, Lazuli Bunting, and of course the Violet-crowned Hummingbird. A nice surprise was a tiny Calliope Hummingbird as well! We drove down and around to Amado where we added a few more trip birds like some waterfowl, swallows, and herons like Snowy Egret and Black-crowned Night-Heron. We ended the day in Montosa Canyon, a beautiful, steep-walled canyon, serenaded by the songs of Canyon Wrens bouncing down the cliffs. Meanwhile, a flock of Phainopeplas moved through, a migrant Western Tanager paused briefly, and nearby a collection of Lucy's Warblers bounced through the mesquite.
Although this is a fairly short trip, we amassed a great collection of nightbirds (and more!). We had some stunning views of hard-to-see species, as well as getting to hear them sing. Not surprisingly, Flammulated Owl was voted #1 bird of the trip and I'd have to agree with that view we had! I want to thank all of you for coming with me to Arizona and for choosing Field Guides. Good birding!
You can see my complete trip report on eBird at this link: https://ebird.org/tripreport/508365
-- Cory Gregory (Curlew)