Birding

One of the most famous birding areas in the United States, is a north-facing valley in the Santa Rita Mountains with riparian woodland along an intermittent stream, bordered by mesquite, juniper-oak woodlands, and pine forests. Madera Canyon is home to over 250 species of birds, including 15 hummingbird species. Visitors from all over the world arrive in search of such avian specialties as the Elegant Trogon, Elf Owl, Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher, Red-faced Warbler and Painted Redstart. A comprehensive bird list published by FoMC is available at the Proctor Visitor Info Station and at trail heads.

The road to Madera Canyon enters through desert grasslands and ends in juniper-oak woodland, where hiking trails lead up in the “sky island” through pine-oak woodland to montane conifer forest and the top of Mt. Wrightson (elevation 9,453 feet). The spectrum of birds found in these varied habitats includes four species of tanagers: Summer at Proctor Road, Hepatic starting at Madera Picnic Area, Western up the trails in the conifers, and Flame-colored as an occasional breeder. Hummingbirds, owls and flycatchers are also very well represented in this area. Montezuma Quail are inconspicuous but present near grassy oak-dotted slopes.

Below Madera Canyon, in the Santa Rita Experimental Range, can be found birds of the desert grasslands and brush, including Costa’s Hummingbird, Varied Bunting, Blue Grosbeak, Scaled Quail, Phainopepla, Botteri’s, Cassin’s, Black-throated, Brewer’s, and Rufous-winged Sparrows.

At Proctor Road, most birders walk the productive first section of the trail to Whitehouse Picnic Area to find Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet, Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher, Bell’s Vireo, Lucy’s Warbler, Blue Grosbeak, Varied Bunting, Summer Tanager, and sometimes Yellow-billed Cuckoo. The dirt road shortly above the parking lot may have Western Scrub-Jays and a Crissal Thrasher.

Farther up the road, the Madera Picnic Area has Acorn and Arizona Woodpeckers, Mexican Jay, Bridled Titmouse, Painted Redstart, and Dark-eyed Junco. Three Myiarchus flycatchers , Western Wood-Pewee and Hepatic Tanager can be found here in season. Watch overhead for Zone-tailed Hawk among the Turkey Vultures.

At the end of the road at the parking lot, the trailhead leads to Old Baldy. Elegant Trogons are most often found along the first mile of either the Super Trail of the Carrie Nation trail. Hermit Thrush, American Robin, Plumbeous Vireo, Painted Redstart, and Dusky-capped Flycatcher are common along the trails. Yellow-eyed Juncos breed higher up towards Josephine Saddle.

Night birding is a Madera Canyon highlight, especially in May. Listen for Western and Whiskered Screech-Owls, Elf Owls and the much rarer Flammulated and Spotted Owls. Whip-poor-wills are in the forest and Common Poorwills can be heard near Proctor and below. Lesser Nighthawks, Barn and Great Horned Owls often fly across the road through the beam of your headlights as you approach the canyon.

The far-reaching, rapid “Ku-WARK, Ku-WARK, Ku-WARK” echoes through Madera Canyon, sounding like a distant dog barking. Easier to hear one than to see one? Yes, because the Elegant Trogon sits quietly on a branch with his green back toward you, blending perfectly into the foliage. After five or ten minutes, he might swoop down for an insect — then sit on the next perch for a while. Females are duller, browner and harder to see, even though they too have a red belly.

Spring is the best time to find them. Stroll up Old Baldy trail from the upper parking lots, or along the Proctor Trail, and you have a good chance of finding our rare and elegant visitor. But please keep your distance. Trogons are easily disturbed and their nests are vulnerable. Approach quietly and not too close, standing still and quiet. From Canyon Notes by Karen McBride.

Birding Report

In the November issue of the Chatter, I wrote here about some of my favorite birds common in Madera Canyon. Alert readers will have noticed that I left out a major group of birds that must be near the top of just about anybody’s favorites in Madera: the hummingbirds.

After all, the Canyon is among the very best places in North America to see a large variety of hummingbirds. Seventeen species of hummingbird are seen regularly in the United States; sixteen of them have been reported from the Canyon, and more than half of those breed here.

And yes, hummingbirds as a group are indeed favorites of mine. But I find I don’t really think about them as I think of birds in other families. Hummingbirds are just too different – in appearance, in actions, and in how I respond to them. Compared to other birds, hummingbirds are so little, more comparable to insects than to most other birds. Nor are they shaped like others: needle bills, narrow wings, perfectly streamlined. No other species looks like a hummingbird, at least not on this continent – yet hummingbirds all closely resemble one another.

Many male hummingbirds and a few females also sport – surely the right word here! – patches of iridescent plumage on throat, crown, and back and breast as well. Other birds, notably many kinds of waterfowl, also show iridescence, but hummingbirds flaunt theirs, clearly knowing just how to turn in the sunlight to show off to best advantage.

Birds other than hummingbirds can and do hover, but none can hover with such lack of effort, and none can fly backward, as hummingbirds readily do. These abilities allow hummingbirds access to the flowers they frequent both for nectar and for small spiders and insects. Many flowers depend primarily on hummingbirds for pollination, and different hummingbird species are adapted, through bill length and shape, to different shapes of bloom. This variation is more apparent among the hundreds of South and Central American species than it is among the relatively few North American types.

Common to all, apparently, is the fast direct flight of hummingbirds from one target to another – so fast indeed that their flight is very hard to follow with the eye. Much else could be said about the various unique aspects of hummingbird behavior and physiognomy – their astonishingly high metabolism, the males’ acrobatic courting, various species’ lengthy migrations, and so on.

Here, I’ll emphasize what is to me a trait hummingbirds share with practically no other bird: the bold curiosity of many of them about people. Hummingbirds evidently want to know what sort of creatures we are, and are quite fearless about inquiring. I assume they know, as other very small birds seem to, that animals as big as people, even if predatory, aren’t interested in prey as tiny as they are.

Other birds, though, even those as curious about things as wrens, keep their distance from people, or else keep very close to cover. Not hummingbirds: it’s not infrequent that a hummingbird, usually in my experience a male, will fly up to me, and, hovering, look me in the eye for a few seconds before going about his business.

I grew up in the East, where hummingbirds are uncommon. I initially looked askance at stories of this behavior. Now that I have a feeder on my porch in Arizona, I find it’s common. I have an immense interest in birds; it’s delightful to have some of that interest returned.

 

In Madera Canyon, the best place to see hummingbirds is the array of feeders at the Santa Rita Lodge, halfway up the road to the top. From dawn until dark, birdwatchers may be found there, sometimes a crowd of them, many with cameras as well as their binoculars. There are often crowds of hummingbirds as well. Feeders, though fewer of them, are also out at the Madera Kubo, just above the Amphitheater, and at the Chuparosa B&B, though you’ll have to walk a ways to see the latter, which has parking only for guests. And hummingbirds can be seen along every trail in the Canyon.

If you’re lucky, you may find a nesting female. Of course, you’re much more likely to see hummingbirds in numbers in a season other than winter. After September, most leave the Canyon for Mexico or points south, or at least move downhill until spring. But not all of them. Anna’s Hummingbirds and the big Rivoli’s can still be found most winter days at the Lodge feeders, with sometimes a Broad-billed Hummingbird too. Those that stay are clearly not deterred by cold or wet weather.

Here at home I have hummingbirds at my feeder before sunrise on mornings when it’s in the 20s, even in the snow. Presumably they’ve spent the night in torpor, but when they’re active, they need steady food sources at least as much as they do when the temperature’s in the 90s. For real variety in Canyon hummingbirds, though, the best times to look are from mid- or early April through September.
Other birds, though, even those as curious about things as wrens, keep their distance from people, or else keep very close to cover. Not hummingbirds: it’s not infrequent that a hummingbird, usually in my experience a male, will fly up to me, and, hovering, look me in the eye for a few seconds before going about his business.

I grew up in the East, where hummingbirds are uncommon. I initially looked askance at stories of this behavior. Now that I have 10 a feeder on my porch in Arizona, I find it’s common. I have an immense interest in birds; it’s delightful to have some of that interest returned.

In Madera Canyon, the best place to see hummingbirds is the array of feeders at the Santa Rita Lodge, halfway up the road to the top. From dawn until dark, birdwatchers may be found there, sometimes a crowd of them, many with cameras as well as their binoculars. There are often crowds of hummingbirds as well.

Note to eBirders: If you are entering eBird data for Madera Canyon there are a number of eBird hotspots in Madera Canyon. There are hotspots for each of the parking & picnic areas, feeding stations, and a number of the trails. Please use these hotspots when ever possible and do not merge a hike or drive through the canyon into one checklist. Also beware that the Pima – Santa Cruz County line cuts east-west through Madera Canyon. County boundaries are important for eBird data collection, analysis, & reporting. The county line crosses Madera Canyon Road at the Madera Picnic Area, about at the midpoint of the big parking area on your left as you head up canyon. If you can see the Santa Rita Lodge, you are in Santa Cruz County so please use the “Madera Canyon—Santa Rita Lodge” hotspot. Otherwise use the “Madera Canyon—Madera Picnic Area” hotspot. If birding at the Bog Springs Campground, which is bisected by the county line, use the “Madera Canyon—Bog Springs campground” unless the birds you are noting are on the north side of the campground, then create a personal spot that is in Pima County. Visit eBird.org to sign up for lists & alerts.

News from the US Forest Service (USFS)

The USFS wants to share that the USFS Madera Canyon Recreation Guide is now available online in English and Spanish.

English | Spanish

You can navigate to them (and the other guides that have been developed) on the website by selecting Visit Us > Maps & Publications and then scrolling down to "Recreation Guides."

The USFS also created a new landing page for Madera Canyon on the Forest's website. You can find it here.

You can navigate to it on the website by selecting Visit Us > Destinations > Madera Canyon