Tucson Bird Alliance

08/25/2026

Thanks to everyone for a wonderful Festival!
We'll see you next year when we celebrate the Varied Bunting!

08/24/2026

Join us to watch Purple Martins this week on three nights!
Desert Purple Martins are getting ready to migrate south and many of them gather in Sahuarita nightly to communally roost in the pecan groves. Join Director of Bird Conservation Jennie MacFarland to watch the evening spectacle of the birds feeding over the pecans and coalescing into a tight group before dropping into the trees to spend the night. We'll meet each night at 6pm in Sahuarita for optional carpooling to the site a few minutes away. The martins usually go down before 7:30pm. We don't know exactly what will happen each evening, or if the weather will interfere, but it's bound to be an adventure!
August 25, 27, 29, 6pm
Desert Purple Martin Evening Roost Viewing in Sahuarita
Let us know you're coming, RSVP at https://tucsonbirds.org/field-trips/

08/22/2026

This week's rare bird alert for southeastern Arizona includes Common Ringed Plover (photo: Ted Wolff), Purple Gallinule, Tufted Flycatcher and more:
https://tucsonbirds.org/rare-bird-alert/

YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT HERON
Short-tailed Hawk
PURPLE GALLINULE
COMMON RINGED PLOVER
UPLAND SANDPIPER
Hudsonian Whimbrel
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher
Buff-collared Nightjar
Berylline Hummingbird
TUFTED FLYCATCHER
Rose-throated Becard
Hooded Warbler
FLAME-COLORED TANAGER

https://ebird.org/checklist/S384173606

Submitted by Ted Wolff.

08/21/2026

Create a healthier, more resilient Tucson. https://tas.app.neoncrm.com/forms/summerappeal2026
Picture yourself walking down your neighborhood street on a June afternoon. You turn a corner and see a beautiful, shady ironwood tree. You take a few moments to rest and hide from the sun. Looking up into the branches, you notice a Verdin nest, and the unmistakable red breast of a Vermilion Flycatcher. Near your feet, a Sonoran bumblebee visits desert marigolds while tall grasses dance in the breeze.
​
Ironwoods are a keystone species​ in the Sonoran Desert, meaning they play an especially important role in supporting other species. They provide food, shelter, and habitat for more than 500 species of plants and animals. But a healthy urban forest needs more than trees. This is why Tucson Bird Alliance is planting 520 native trees, shrubs, and understory plants over the next six months. By adding more native plants throughout Tucson, we create more habitat for birds and wildlife while making our neighborhoods greener and cooler.

As Tucson grows, we are losing an estimated ten square miles of native desert each year. At the same time, roads, sidewalks, parking lots, and other paved surfaces absorb and hold heat, making our city hotter and changing local weather patterns. These impacts are often greatest in neighborhoods that have historically received fewer resources and have less access to green space. Tucson Bird Alliance is focusing our work in some of Tucson’s most heat-vulnerable areas, including the City of South Tucson, and Amphi and Sunnyside neighborhoods. Please consider donating to these efforts to support your neighbors and local wildlife. https://tas.app.neoncrm.com/forms/summerappeal2026
Your donation to Summer Appeal will be matched dollar-to-dollar up to $25,000.​ Donate $10 or more and we’ll send you a Vermilion Flycatcher sticker!

08/18/2026

Thanks to all involved for another amazing Southeast Arizona Birding Festival!

08/18/2026

The Endangered Species Act (ESA) is one of the most effective conservation laws ever enacted to prevent wildlife extinctions. Over 100 bird species currently depend on federal protections under the ESA, with dozens more awaiting listing decisions. The law's success is clear: 99% of species that have been listed have been saved from extinction, and iconic birds such as the Bald Eagle, ʻIo (Hawaiian Hawk), and Brown Pelican have recovered so well that they were removed from the ESA entirely.

However, the ESA itself is in danger. New regulations from the federal government have weakened habitat protections for ESA-listed species. Lawmakers need to hear from you that the Endangered Species Act is still strong, effective, and bipartisan – and that constituents like you care.
Take Action Now: Urge your Members of Congress to reject all attacks on the ESA!

American Bird Conservancy is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in the United States, and donations are tax deductible for U.S. residents. As a member of our online community, you will receive periodic emails (including newsletters and project updates) from which you may unsubscribe at an...

08/15/2026

This week's rare bird alert for southeastern Arizona includes Tufted Flycatcher (photo: Jerald Britten), Black-vented Oriole, Eared Quetzal and more:
https://tucsonbirds.org/rare-bird-alert/

YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT HERON
Roseate Spoonbill
Short-tailed Hawk
PURPLE GALLINULE
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Buff-collared Nightjar
Berylline Hummingbird
EARED QUETZAL
TUFTED FLYCATCHER
Rose-throated Becard
White-eyed Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Hooded Warbler
Rufous-capped Warbler
FLAME-COLORED TANAGER
BLACK-VENTED ORIOLE

https://ebird.org/checklist/S381350815

Submitted by jerald britten.

08/14/2026

Happy Birdy Friday!
Perhaps no other bird in the US regularly inspires more myth, legend, travel plans (especially to our Southeast Arizona Birding Festival happening this week!), and oohs & aahs, than the Coppery-tailed Trogon. Trogon expert, Rick Taylor, explains it well: “Many American birders regard the Coppery-tailed Trogon as the most beautiful bird north of the international boundary. Almost a foot-long with a green back and scarlet red breast, the multi-hued male trogon exhibits a yellow bill, an orange eye-ring, immaculate white breast band, dove gray wings, and a black-and-white laddered undertail.” With a metallic iridescence on its back and tail, this “Elegant" Trogon* is a great looking and sounding bird. During the spring breeding season, you can often hear the distinctive and repetitive barking calls of male trogons in select canyon forests of oak and sycamore in most of the Sky Island mountain ranges of Southeast Arizona. These calls are the easiest way to find this large tropical bird that is well camouflaged and surprisingly difficult to see when not moving.

Coppery-tailed Trogon is a mostly Mexican species, but by the late 1970s, Cave Creek Canyon in the Chiricahua Mountains had become ground-zero for birders seeking this so-called “most sought-after bird in Arizona.” The species is omnivorous and has a hooked bill that makes it easier to grasp large insects and fruit. Coppery-tailed Trogons are secondary cavity nesters and rely on Northern Flickers or Acorn Woodpeckers to excavate the nest holes they use.

Thanks to annual surveys led by Tucson Bird Alliance, we now know that Coppery-tailed Trogons occupy the Atascosa, Santa Rita, Huachuca, Chiricahua, and Patagonia Mountains. Their population appears to be rebounding a bit after a few drought years, and more are spending the winter in the US. The good news is that it's getting easier to see Coppery-tailed Trogons in Southeast Arizona!

*In 2025, ornithologists split Elegant Trogon into two species: Coppery-tailed Trogon, found from Arizona to southern Mexico, and Elegant Trogon, a name now restricted to populations from Guatemala to Costa Rica.
-Matt Griffiths, Communications Manager
Male trogon by Matthew Studebaker; female by Frederick Mitchell Jr.

08/14/2026

Calling all junior birders and families! Tomorrow is Family Birding Day at Reid Park! Come on out for some early morning nature fun. 8-10am.
Southeast Arizona Birding Festival

08/13/2026

Tucson Bird Alliance recently enjoyed tremendous success in our ongoing efforts to track Desert Purple Martins. Historically, very little research had been done on this subspecies before Tucson Bird Alliance launched the Desert Purple Martin Project in 2020. Thanks to your support at https://tas.app.neoncrm.com/forms/summerappeal2026, we can now conduct cutting-edge research on one of the most exciting aspects of their natural history: their migration.

This summer, we located a new martin roost in a residential area where the birds come to rest each night in specific trees. With help from our partners from Purple Martin Conservation Association, Northern Arizona University, and Arizona Game and Fish, we set up nets around the trees to catch birds and then attach Lotek satellite trackers to them. We are thrilled to report that we netted 26 birds, which we now get to track!

We are already learning so much! We can see that most of the nesting adults are nesting in Saguaro National Park - East. Surprisingly, a few of the unpaired males have left Arizona for coastal mangrove swamps in Mexico. Discoveries like these are only possible through long-term research and collaboration made possible by people like you. By identifying where Desert Purple Martins breed, rest and refuel during migration, and spend the winter, we can better understand the threats they face throughout their annual journey and work with partners across the Americas to protect the habitats they depend on. Stay tuned and support our work as we follow these birds on their incredible journey to eastern Brazil!

Donate $10 or more and we’ll send you a Vermilion Flycatcher sticker! https://tas.app.neoncrm.com/forms/summerappeal2026