Southeastern Arizona is where Mexico’s Sierra Madre mountains, and the Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts all spill across the international boundary. With them come an array of “Mexican” hummingbirds found nowhere else in the U.S., as well as the richest overall bird species diversity of any land-bounded area in the entire country. August is the month to see it. Summer rains have greened the landscape, restarted the creeks, and decreased the temperatures. Late-arriving, tropical specialties like the Berylline, White-eared, Lucifer, and Violet-crowned Hummingbirds compete for nectar on flowering agaves with returning Allen’s, Rufous, Broad-tailed, and Calliope Hummingbirds, already moving south to their winter quarters in the Sierra Madre. Naturally the breeding hummers: Blue-throated, Magnificent, Broad-billed, Black-chinned, Costa’s, and Anna’s, strive heroically to stem this tide of colorful invaders. To observe these pinwheels of iridescence in combat at favored agave stands, mountain meadows, and feeding stations such as Patagonia and Miller Canyon, is to behold one of the great bird spectacles of the entire United States. It is not uncommon to observe 10 species of hummingbirds on a single day, and up to 15 species are possible over the course of the tour. We will also look for resident Gray and Zone-tailed Hawks, Montezuma Quail, Elegant Trogons, Vermilion Flycatchers, Black-capped Gnatcatchers, Bendire’s and Crissal Thrashers, Painted Redstarts, Red-faced Warblers, and jazzy purple and red Varied Buntings. Strategic outings could give us the legendary Five-striped Sparrow and even the potential of an incredibly rare Rufous-capped Warbler. More recently Plain-capped Starthroat has become an almost annual, mid-to-late summer visitor at feeders in the border ranges. The scenery ranges from magnificent stands of tree-sized Saguaro Cactus near Tucson to the southernmost Engelmann spruce and subalpine fir forest in North America in Arizona’s high, cool “Sky Island” ranges.

With this format for our “Hummingbird Run,” you can select a set of dates that best fits your schedule!  Hummingbird Run 1 runs Wednesday through Sunday;  Hummingbird Run 2 runs Monday through Thursday.

Leader:  John Yerger

Cost of an Arizona Hummingbird Run includes all meals, accommodations, entrance fees, and transportation from Tucson, Arizona—$1595.

See also  Arizona: Hummingbird Run 2 (August 12-16, 2018)

Photo: Costa's Hummingbird
Photo by: Rick Taylor