Northern Arizona Birding - March 2019

When it comes to planning a vacation to an area that I've never been before, where there are more than one hundred lifers possible and about two dozen other species that I haven't seen in over 35 years, I'm like a kid in a candy store. With today's technology, such as eBird and Birds of North America (BNA) species accounts online, I've been able to plan the birding portion of our family vacation with many birds that I used to dream of seeing when I thumbed through the field guides as a teenager. Birds such as Clark's Nutcracker, Lewis's Woodpecker, Stellar's Jay, Vermillion Flycatcher, Phainopepla, Painted Redstart and many more. We are flying from Cincinnati to Phoenix via a connection and layover in Dallas/Fort Worth, then driving the next day to stay two nights in Tusayan just outside of the Grand Canyon then three nights in Sedona. I will be granted a half day of birding apart from family. My plan is to rise early to try for nocturnal birds such as Common Poorwill, Western Screech-Owl, Mexican Spotted Owl and some other specialty birds that may only be found in the Flagstaff area such as Clark's Nutcracker, Pinyon Jay and American Three-toed Woodpecker. Working my way down Oak Creek Canyon will be my best chance at American Dipper, Olive Warbler and Painted Redstart. In some of these areas Northern Pygmy-Owl may be possible during the day. I plan to finish up my morning and early afternoon in the Sedona area primarily at two or three hotspots, time permitting. These are Page Springs Fish Hatchery, Sedona Wetlands and Dead Horse Ranch State Park. The list of possible lifers, even when excluding vagrants and late migrants that could show up early, is close to 100 species. Below is the list of possible lifers, most of them expected there but a few are extremely rare. Updates to this blog with photos and commentary will be made while in Arizona.

Mexican Duck

Gambel's Quail

Chukar

Dusky Grouse

Clark's Grebe

Band-tailed Pigeon

Lesser Nighthawk

Common Poorwill

White-throated Swift

Rivoli's Hummingbird

Black-chinned Hummingbird

Anna's Hummingbird

Costa's Hummingbird

Broad-billed Hummingibrd

Calliope Hummingbird

Ridgway's Rail

California Gull

California Condor

Northern Goshawk

Common Black Hawk

Swainson's Hawk

Zone-tailed Hawk

Western Screech-Owl

Northern Pygmy-Owl

Mexican Spotted Owl

Williamson's Sapsucker

Red-naped Sapsucker

Lewis's Woodpecker

Acorn Woodpecker

Gila Woodpecker

American Three-toed Woodpecker

Gilded Flicker

Prairie Falcon

Rosy-faced Lovebird

Yellow-faced Lovebird

Nanday Parakeet

Hammond's Flycatcher

Gray Flycatcher

Black Phoebe

Vermillion Flycatcher

Ash-throated Flycatcher

Cassin's Kingbird

Western Kingbird

Gray Vireo

Hutton's Vireo

Cassin's Vireo

Plumbeous Vireo

Pinyon Jay

Stellar's Jay

Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay

Clark's Nutcracker

Black-billed Magpie

Violet-green Swallow

Mountain Chickadee

Bridled Titmouse

Juniper Titmouse

Bushtit

Pygmy Nuthatch

Rock Wren

Canyon Wren

Pacific Wren

Black-tailed Gnatcatcher

American Dipper

Western Bluebird

Mountain Bluebird

Varied Thrush

Bendire's Thrasher

Le Conte's Thrasher

Crissal Thrasher

Sage Thrasher

Phainopepla

Olive Warbler

Cassin's Finch

Lesser Goldfinch

Lawrence's Goldfinch

Chestnut-collared Longspur

McCown's Longspur

Black-chinned Sparrow

Brewer's Sparrow

Harris's Sparrow

Sagebrush Sparrow

Lark Bunting

Canyon Towhee

Abert's Towhee

Rufous-crowned Sparrow

Green-tailed Towhee

Hepatic Tanager

Black-headed Grosbeak

Lazuli Bunting

Hooded Oriole

Bullock's Oriole

Scott's Oriole

Bronzed Cowbird

Lucy's Warbler

Townsend's Warbler

Painted Redstart