Southwest Wings Birding and Nature Festival

Southwest Wings Birding and Nature Festival Southwest Wings is held in Sierra Vista, Arizona.

http://www.swwings.org/ Arizona's Longest-Running Nature Festival Southwest Wings is an educational celebration of the diversity of birds, mammals, reptiles, and insects, in their unique environment; the sky islands in southern Arizona. Some of the educational highlights of the Birding and Nature Festival will be Mexican Birds, Trogon, Butterflies, Dragonflies, Ornithology, Humming Birds, Bats, Bugs, Snakes, and Owls. It takes place in the spectacular high desert environment of Cochise County, home to the Huachuca Mountains and the San Pedro River.

This summer and fall has been good for butterflies in southeast Arizona. If you have flowers in your yard then there is ...
09/29/2026

This summer and fall has been good for butterflies in southeast Arizona. If you have flowers in your yard then there is good chance that you will have some colorful visitors feeding at them and pollinating them.

Butterflies to look out for at the moment include Pipevine Swallowtail, Weatern Giant Swallowtail, Queen (a relative of the Monarch), Tailed Orange, Southern Dogface, Variegated Fritillary, American Snout, Bordered Patch and Dorantes Longtail (a skipper). Butterflies can be seen year round in the region where about 330 species have been recorded.

Some of the best flowers to attract them include lantana (standard and trailing), Gregg’s Mist (or Mistflower), Mexican Sage and other salvias, native milkweeds and Woolly Butterfly Bush.

Photos by Chris Harbard

Not everything with wings in the Sky Islands is a bird! 🦗Meet the Horse Lubber Grasshopper (Taeniopoda eques) — one of t...
09/21/2026

Not everything with wings in the Sky Islands is a bird! 🦗

Meet the Horse Lubber Grasshopper (Taeniopoda eques) — one of the largest and most striking grasshoppers of southeastern Arizona. Adults can reach nearly 3 inches long, with dramatic black-and-yellow coloring, beautifully patterned wings, and a flash of brilliant pinkish-red when those wings open!

Another remarkable resident of the Sky Islands.

📷 C. Harbard

Not everything with wings in the Sky Islands is a bird! 🦗Meet the Horse Lubber Grasshopper (Taeniopoda eques) — one of t...
09/21/2026

Not everything with wings in the Sky Islands is a bird! 🦗

Meet the Horse Lubber Grasshopper (Taeniopoda eques) — one of the largest and most striking grasshoppers of southeastern Arizona. Adults can reach nearly 3 inches long, with dramatic black-and-yellow coloring, beautifully patterned wings…and a flash of brilliant pinkish-red when those wings open!

Another remarkable resident of the Sky Islands.

📷 C. Harbard

Birding, w**e, and a fall day in Willcox! 🍂🦅🍷Southwest Wings is pleased to once again collaborate with the City of Sierr...
09/19/2026

Birding, w**e, and a fall day in Willcox! 🍂🦅🍷

Southwest Wings is pleased to once again collaborate with the City of Sierra Vista in support of birding, nature-based tourism, and our local community.

As part of the City’s Wings and W**e Over Willcox tour on Saturday, October 10, Southwest Wings is sponsoring expert birder Kristy Gallo, who will lead participants for a morning of birding at Lake Cochise and Twin Lakes Golf Course before the group visits local Willcox-area vineyards.

Partnerships like this are part of Southwest Wings’ commitment to education, environmental awareness, nature-based tourism, and community service throughout southeast Arizona.

Saturday, October 10 | 8:30 AM–5 PM
$100 per person | Age 21+

See the flyer for registration details.

One year ago today… what a monsoon sky! ⛈️💚September 13, 2025 brought this dramatic view over the Huachuca Mountains — o...
09/14/2026

One year ago today… what a monsoon sky! ⛈️💚

September 13, 2025 brought this dramatic view over the Huachuca Mountains — one of those moments when the Sky Islands certainly live up to their name.

Monsoon season transforms southeast Arizona, bringing spectacular skies, summer rains and new life to the landscape.

What do you love most about monsoon season in the Sky Islands?

There can be very few Southwest Wings participants who have not visited Ash Canyon Bird Sanctuary and in fact most birde...
09/05/2026

There can be very few Southwest Wings participants who have not visited Ash Canyon Bird Sanctuary and in fact most birders who come to Southeast Arizona will make a special visit there and between the months of April and September it is THE legendary location for the much sought-after Lucifer Hummingbird.

Now you can read all about it in a fantastic new book from Southwest Wings friend and guide, Tim Blount, and his delightful account celebrates this most famous of Arizonan birding locations which has now recorded 16 species of hummingbirds and an incredible 11 hybrid combinations! Managed by the Southeastern Arizona Bird Observatory, this unique birding location has attracted nearly 200 species of birds. Its location, in the foothills of the Huachuca Mountains makes it perfect for experiencing a wide range of species of birds and other wildlife.

Tim has been the caretaker at Ash Canyon since 2019 and his book is a testament to years of observations with its detailed text reflecting a deep appreciation of the birds that make Ash Canyon so extraordinary. Its 247 pages feature 101 of the nearly 200 species recorded at the sanctuary, and are accompanied by fabulous photographs from Tim and other local birders and volunteers. Each account includes ID tips, occurrence plus many personal observations.

Ash Canyon: Bird Sanctuary - A Visitor’s Guide to the Birds of Ash Canyon has just been published, and is available from Amazon as a paperback or hardback. Get your copy now!

There’s always something with wings to discover in southeast Arizona. 🦋🐦Late summer in the Sky Islands brings an incredi...
08/29/2026

There’s always something with wings to discover in southeast Arizona. 🦋🐦

Late summer in the Sky Islands brings an incredible variety of birds, butterflies and other wildlife — and sometimes the smallest encounters are every bit as memorable as the birds we set out to find.

One of the things we love most about Southwest Wings is celebrating all of the remarkable nature that makes this corner of Arizona so special.

A few beautiful moments captured and shared with us by Southwest Wings attendees. 💚

What have you been seeing lately?

Bird photos: Tim Murphy
Butterfly and Dragonfly photos: Susan Andres

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Sierra Vista, AZ

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