Tucson Bird Alliance

10/15/2026

Join us at Tucson Bird Alliance's Mason Center for a great opportunity to create art, watch birds, and enjoy some pastries and coffee too!
Participants will learn to capture what they see on paper with a focus on the flora and fauna around the Center and do sketches in black and white and in oil pastels. There will also be a demo on how to create a plein air scene from nature.
Coffee and pastries will be available while we enjoy the birds and art instruction from Russell Kahn. Loaner binoculars are available upon request. Limited to 12 participants.

Thursday, October 29, 8–10am
Birding and Art at Tucson Bird Alliance’s Mason Center with Russell Kahn and Donito Burgess
$60 per person
Register at:

Participants will learn how to capture what they see on paper from nature. They will focus on the flora and/or fauna around the center and do sketches in black and white, and do a longer work in oil pastel. The instructor will cover demos on how to use line, value and composition as well as color wi...

10/15/2026

Calling all new birders and those who want to sharpen their identification skills! We have two great field workshops this weekend at Sweetwater Wetlands with lots of spots left--it will be like a private birding experience with expert Alex Patia!😊😊
Temps are great, we'll see you at Sweetwater!

Brand New to Birding Field Workshop with Alex Patia
Saturday, October 17, 7am-9:30am, Cost: $35

Advanced Birding Series: Fall Migration Identification Challenges with Alex Patia
Sunday, October 18, 7-9:30am, $35/member, $50/non-member
Find details and register for both at https://tucsonbirds.org/field-trips/

Black-crowned Night Heron, Frederick Mitchell Jr.

10/14/2026

Tucson Bird Alliance and Alachua Audubon Society celebrated World Migratory Bird Day last Saturday, October 10 with some friendly competition. It was simple: which Sweetwater Wetlands would have more birds, Gainesville, Florida or Tucson, Arizona? In Tucson, we had a great time with over 60 birders stopping in throughout the day to join organizers Luke Safford, Donito Burgess, and Alex Patia. In the end, it was very close with Sweetwater Florida recording a total of 94 species and Sweetwater Arziona recording 90! Some of our highlights included an American Bittern, Peregrine Falcon, Lawrence's Goldfinch, Cassin’s Finch, and a Least Bittern for a double bittern day! Despite being in very different regions, the two hotspots had 24 species in common. Hopefully we’ll have another big day competition and a shot at redemption for Tucson’s Sweetwater!
If you were at either Sweetwater on Saturday, share your highlights!

10/09/2026

Happy Birdy Friday!
The Santa Cruz Flats, the agricultural area northwest of Tucson, is a well-known fall-to-spring birding destination for good reason—it’s a raptor mecca and you have the chance to see a diversity of species such as Crested Caracara, Ferruginous Hawk, Mountain Plover, and the rare Sprague’s Pipit. These birds are great, but I’d like to offer some sage advice of the thrasher and sparrow kind. The Flats are one of the few places where you can score a five-thrasher day (Bendire’s, Crissal, Curve-billed, LeConte’s, and Sage). The smallest of these, the Sage Thrasher is dependent on the sagebrush valleys and plains of the Mountain West for successful breeding. Originally named the Mountain Mockingbird, it has a long and varied song, reminiscent of the Northern Mockingbird. The beautifully spotted, yellow-eyed, and short-billed Sage Thrasher is fairly common and can be found virtually anywhere in the Flats in the cooler seasons.

Similar to the thrasher in habitat requirements and behavior, the Sagebrush Sparrow can also be found at the Flats, running between bushes and rarely flying. The stately, gray-headed and white eye-ringed sparrow breeds in the wide open sagebrush valleys of the Rockies and has some of the largest territories of any sparrow. They find the dry saltbush flats of the Southwest very similar! The Bell’s Sparrow (a species found just to the west) and the Sagebrush were considered one species from 1957 to 2013, known as the Sage Sparrow. Take care when identifying these sparrows, their ranges do overlap west of Tucson, although Bell’s is still very rare. Now that it's starting to cool off (a bit?), and these birds are returning, take a trip to the Flats!
-Matt Griffiths, Communications Manager

10/08/2026

Arizona Game & Fish Department has teamed up with Tucson Bird Alliance and the Desert Fence Busters. This is a collaborative conservation project in Tucson’s west valley to improve and enhance wildlife movement between natural areas by removing miles of deadly fencing barriers and capping "death pipes" that can trap birds and other wildlife.

Arizona Game and Fish has teamed up with the Desert Fence Busters. ...

10/07/2026

Fall Native Plant Sale — Going on now through October 13!
Fall is a great time to plant, so shop soon for the best selection and add some new habitat to your yard!
Plants are going fast, but we still have plenty of great native species looking for a home—including chiltepin (Capsicum annuum var. glabriusculum), chuparosa (Justicia californica), pink fairy duster (Calliandra eriophylla), Fendler’s globemallow (Sphaeralcea fendleri), Parish’s goldeneye (Bahiopsis parishii), Mexican honeysuckle (Justicia spicigera), and much more!

Order online at https://tucsonbirds.org/shop/ through October 13. Plant pickup is October 16&17 at the Nature Shop.

10/06/2026

Did you know that cone and seed eating birds normally found farther north are showing up further south across the West, including right here in Southeast Arizona? Clark's Nutcrackers, Evening Grosbeaks, Pinyon Jays, and others are all over the area right now. Learn why this might be happening and maybe go find some of these birds!

Late summer and early fall mark the time when birders in western North America start turning up records of montane birds moving into non-breeding habitats and descending into nearby lowlands. Fall of 2026 is shaping up to be another invasion season for a few montane species, especially a couple corv...

10/06/2026

REMINDER: Join us for World Migratory Bird Day this Saturday, October 10 at Sweetwater Wetlands! Tucson Bird Alliance staff members Luke Safford, Alex Patia, and Donito Burgess will be at the wetlands from sunup to sundown trying to get more species than the other Sweetwater Wetlands in Gainesville, Florida and Alachua Audubon Society.
Stop by for a few minutes, a couple of hours, or stay and bird with us throughout the day to help us increase our count.
Which Sweetwater will come out on top? Come help us find out!

Saturday, October 10, 6:30am to ???
Sweetwater Wetlands World Migratory Bird Day
RSVP and let us know you're coming!

Join Tucson Bird Alliance staff members Luke Safford, Alex Patia, and Donito Burgess for World Migratory Big Day at Sweetwater Wetlands! We’ll be at the wetlands from sunup to sundown, watching for migrants and resident birds as we celebrate the incredible diversity of birds moving through Southea...

10/05/2026

NOTE: The Nature Shop will be closed this Thursday, October 8 for an all-staff meeting. We'll see you Friday! Happy birding.
White-crowned Sparrow by David Kreidler

10/03/2026

This week's rare bird alert for southeastern Arizona includes Rufous-capped Warbler (photo: Alan Schmierer), Blackburnian Warbler, Least Flycatcher and more:
https://tucsonbirds.org/rare-bird-alert/

Red-shouldered Hawk
Broad-winged Hawk
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher
Sabine's Gull
Common Tern
LEAST FLYCATCHER
Rufous-backed Robin
Blackburnian Warbler
Hooded Warbler
Rufous-capped Warbler
Streak-backed Oriole