Birds

Arizona is a bird-watcher’s paradise, with more than 100 avian species soaring across the state’s blue skies, including cardinals, finches, eagles, hawks, hummingbirds, and sparrows. And as Phoenix [1] resident Stevie Nicks once sang, “just like the white-winged dove sings a song,” you can actually hear these birds, which flock to the desert every spring to pollinate blooming saguaro cacti. And they’re not alone. Arizona’s state bird, the brown-and-white cactus wren, is a frequent guest in backyard trees and on patios throughout the Valley of the Sun. There are also a half dozen species of owl in the desert, like the ghost-faced barn owl and the great-horned owl—though a more apt name would be the “great-eyebrowed owl.”

Beep beep! If we’ve learned anything from cartoons, it’s that where there are wily coyotes, there are speedy roadrunners. The long-legged cuckoos dash across the desert, happily chasing down lizards and insects. Their unique feet—four toes on each foot, two facing forward and two facing backward—make their tracks easy to recognize. And though you won’t find that other great cartoon bird, Woody the Woodpecker, the gila woodpecker burrows into trees and cacti in the Sonoran Desert. Its black-and-white-striped wings help distinguish the bird from other species, as does the male’s small red “cap” on the top of its head. The ground-dwelling Gambel’s quail, crowned by a curled “topknot,” is often seen in the late spring with its small chicks following in an orderly line.