Sunday, July 22, 2012

My First Tucson Birds

I moved back to Tucson, where I had grown up, in 1989. After twenty years in NYC, where the only wildlife I saw were squirrels, rats, pigeons and sparrows, I was suddenly in the heart of the beautiful Sonoran desert with its amazing birds.Glen Creek Flowers 1I was lucky to have picked a house near the river (a dry river, but still attractive to wildlife), and my tiny back yard was full of growing things and trees. I quickly added a garden and then a pond.

I sat in the back yard every afternoon for one to two hours with binoculars and bird books. I sat in my office, gazing out at the astonishing birds when I wasn’t busy typing, and sometimes even when I was.

Gila and White winged dove 5-7-2010 8-17-55 AM 855x908White-winged dove and gila woodpecker

The first unknown bird I remember seeing was a large black-and-white striped bird pecking on the trunk of my tangelo tree. I quickly learned that this was a Gila woodpecker, the owner of the loud, raucous voice that sometimes startled me when the window was open. I also learned that we had two types of doves: white-winged and mourning.

 Mockers new backyard 007
My first familiar bird was one I had gotten to know when visiting my parents in the Washingon, DC, area: the mockingbird. Now I could see these amazing, intelligent, and beautiful creatures close-up.

 
The next desert bird I learned to identify was the curve-billed thrasher, a close relative of the mockingbird. Hours of observation showed me that these gorgeous birds had yellow eyes, except when young (juveniles’ eyes are gray). They also invariably have a grumpy, peeved expression on their faces.

Curve-billed ThrasherCurve-billed thrasher; not my photo

I got to know these and many, many other birds over the first few years I was here. Most wonderful of all were the hummingbirds, and I will write about them in a future post.

10 comments:

  1. I'm sure thrashers are happy birds, but you're right about the grumpy expression.

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    1. Yes. To me, mockingbirds usually look serene, perhaps secure in their art. Thrashers usually look as if someone just swiped a big, delicious bug that they spent valuable time digging up.

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  2. That is exactly what my first months back were like. I was also introduced to the towhee and the pyrrhuloxia and all these cute finches that I never saw in NYC either. I did see a variety of birds in Central Park, but these guys are right in my back yard!!

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  3. OH YES, and the quail.

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    1. Mustn't forget the quail! They weren't among my first birds, though. I guess they didn't start coming into my yard until spring, and I moved there in autumn.

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  4. I was thinking of you when I wrote it. I gradually got to know most of the birds that we see at Tohono Chul, but at first it was like walking into a party where I didn't know anyone and just sitting in the corner, watching....

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  5. Anonymous4:24 AM

    So that was the beginning and what a wonderful trip it has continued to be. S

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    1. Thanks, Sue! I miss you. Bird walks aren't the same without you.

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  6. Our latest new birds are a set of either pygmy nuthatches or brown-capped nuthatches. Hard to tell because they flit on and off the bird feeder like caffeinated wrens. I do love those mockingbirds!

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    1. How many times do I have to tell you to stop giving your birds coffee!

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