Southwest Warblers Part 4: Painted Redstart and Black-throated Gray Warbler

Painted Redstart: The first time I saw a Painted Redstart was when one greeted me at the front door feeder of the Ramsey Canyon Nature Conservatory last December. Unfortunately it flew so close to my 150-500mm Sigma Lens that I couldn't get a clear picture of it before it disappeared. So when I had a chance to revisit the Conservatory last April, I was hoping to get a second chance at photographing these strikingly beautiful black warblers with a red breast and belly and white wing patches and outer tail feathers, and a white patch under its eyes which make it look like it's in a perpetually sad disposition.

Painted Redstart, Ramsey Canyon Nature Conservatory, AZ; 4/9/2012.

I hiked pretty far into the Canyon, and fortunately after missing a few chances of these Redstarts, one showed itself long enough for me to capture its image (Above).

Painted Redstart, Ramsey Canyon Nature Conservatory, AZ; 4/9/2012.

Painted Redstarts (Above) have a pretty small area in the U.S. to find them - Southeast Arizona and Southwest New Mexico. Otherwise they are much more common in the canyons of Mexico.

Black-throated Gray Warbler: A more common Warbler, but a first for me was the Black-throated Gray Warbler (Below), which I located on the Cave Creek Canyon Trail in the Chiricuaha Mountains, two days later from my Ramsey Canyon visit.

Black-throated Gray Warbler, Chiricuaha Mts., AZ; 4/11/2012.

When I first heard, then saw, this warbler with its white and black markings, I initially thought it to be a type of Chickadee (I was hoping for a Mexican Chickadee). But after comparing my photos to the Sibley's Field Guide, I realized that I found my first Black-throated Gray Warbler. I was disappointed thet I couldn't get a clear photo of this warbler as my only clear shot was well out-of-focus. My somewhat in-focus photos (Above and Below) did not have the best point of views, but the photos along with remembering its song, was good enough to make a definite identification.

Black-throated Gray Warbler, Chiricuaha Mts., AZ; 4/11/2012.

Black-throated Gray Warblers can be found throughout much of the western U.S. from the Pacific Coast of British Columbia in the North to the southern borders of California, Arizona, and New Mexico. They can be found mostly in an arid habitat of Oak or Juniper woodlands.

Southwest Warblers: Yellow, Yellow-rumped, and Orange-Crowned

WARBLERS OF THE SOUTHWEST

Yellow Warbler, 1st-year, San Pedro Riparian Natural Conservation Area, Sierra Vista, AZ, 4/10/2012.

On my Spring Break trip to Arizona, I was hoping to add a few new birds to my list, particularly some warblers.  Typically, the Midwest and Eastern U.S. have a much larger variety of warbler species to see than the Western U.S., but there are a few species that are more likely to be found in the West and Southwest and of course those species that can be found throughout the entire country, such as the Yellow Warbler (Above).
Warblers that can be seen in the Western States during the Summer
Western: Orange-crowned*, Wilson's*, Black-throated Gray*, Yellow-rumped Audubon's*, MacGillivray's
Northwest and North Central West: Nashville, Townsend's, Hermit, American Redstart*, Northern Waterthrush, Ovenbird
Southwest: Virginia, Lucy's*, Grace's, Red-faced, Painted Redstart*, Olive (Locally southeast AZ southwest NM), Colima (Locally in the Big Bend area of Texas)
West and East: Yellow*, Common Yellowthroat*, Yellow-breasted Chat*
* Denotes the warblers that I observed in Southeast Arizona during April, 2012.

Yellow Warbler, 1st-year, San Pedro Riparian Natural Conservation Area, Sierra Vista, AZ, 4/10/2012.

There were Yellow Warblers all over the San Pedro Riparian NCA in early April, and then they show up in my hunting grounds of Northern Illinois in late April. I saw both mature adults and ther paler 1st-Years (Above).

Yellow-rumped Warbler, Ramsey Canyon,Sierra Vista, AZ; 4/9/2012.

Another very common warbler seen in the West is the Yellow-rumped Audubon's (Above and Below), which is distinguished from the Eastern species (Yellow-rumped Myrtle) with its yellow throat. The Myrtle has a white throat.

Yellow-rumped Warbler, San Pedro Riparian Natural Conservation Area, Sierra Vista, AZ, 4/10/2012.

Orange-crowned Warbler, San Pedro Riparian Natural Conservation Area, Sierra Vista, AZ, 4/10/2012.

What I thought was a Yellow Warbler sneaking around the heavy brush, when I first saw it, turned out to be an Orange-crowned warbler (Above). It was my first sighting of this species. Hooray!
In the next few days, i will post pictures of some more Southwest Warblers that I saw on my Spring break trip: Wilson's, Lucy's, Painted Redstart, and Black-throated Gray.

Another Western Woodpecker: Acorn Woodpecker

MORE SOUTHWEST WOODPECKERS

Acorn Woodpecker, Ramsey Canyon, Sierra Vista, AZ, 4/9/2012

The first time I saw an Acorn Woodpecker was in Yosemite National Park several years ago. The next two times I saw these guys were both in Ramsey Canyon, AZ, last fall and this spring (Above). 

Acorn Woodpecker, Ramsey Canyon, Sierra Vista, AZ, 4/9/2012.

Ramsey Canyon is the place to be to find Acorn Woodpeckers.

Southwest Hummingbirds Part 3: Broad-tailed and Broad-billed

THE HUMMER BROADS

A female Broad-billed Hummingbird, Ramsey Canyon Nature Conservatory, Sierra Vista, AZ; 4/9/2012.

Broad-billed Hummingbird: During my Spring Break Southwestern birding trip, I was lucky enough to make my second visit to the Ramsey Canyon Nature Conservatory, which is considered to be one of the best places to find a wide variety of species of hummingbirds. After I completed a long hike into and out of the canyon, I still had an hour before the grounds closed for the day. So I camped myself on a bench facing one of their many hummingbird feeders. Within that hour I saw four (maybe five) different species visiting the one feeder: A Broad-billed (Above), a Magnificent and Rufous (tomorrow's post), many Black-chinneds, and an unconfirmed possible Blue-throated (my photo was inconclusive, but was probably a Black-chinned).

Val's photo of the beautiful male Broad-billed Humminbird, Sonoran Desert Museum, Tucson; 12/27/2012.

While visiting the wonderful Sonoran Desert Museum in Tucson, AZ, Val visited the hummingbird house, in which resided hummingbird species that could be found in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona. She was able to catch several excellent close-ups of many different types, including the Broad-billed (Above).  Males sport a dark green belly and dark blue throat and breast with black wings and dark green back, all off set with a brilliant red bill. Don't ask me why I didn't make it to the Hummingbird House. I was probably out chasing wild birds.
Broad-billed Hummingbirds are common in the southeast corner of the Arizona (i.e.Ramsey Canyon NC) during the summer. Rarely do they venture north, but there are few odd sightings of these guys in California.

Val's photo of a female Broad-billed Hummingbird, Sonoran Desert Museum, Tucson, AZ; 12/27/2009.

Val photographed a female Broad-billed (Above) at the Hummingbird House as well.


Broad-tailed Hummingbird: The second of the "broad" hummingbirds is the Broad-tailed (Below).

A male Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Rocky Mt. Nat. Prk, CO; 7/8/2010. Photo taken when I still had my Canon RebelT1i with a Canon 55-250mm lens. I hadn't yet owned my current Sigma 150-500mm lens.

While camping in Rocky Mountain National Park two summers ago, I liked to get up early and before making breakfast, meander around the vast slope, meadow, and creek area to the south of our campground to look for wildlife. One morning, while I was stalking a Mountain Bluebird, I was able to catch a glimpse of a hummingbird that showed itself for only a moment before it buzzed in a high pitch out of sight. My first reaction was a Black-chinned, but upon viewing my photo (Above), the bill seemed too short, and the only other hummer that would be present this far north in Colorado in midsummer, would be the Broad-tailed, and indeed, unless I am mistaken, this what I ID'd it as. Broad-tailed Hummers can be found in dry arid places, especially in and around coniferous forests, which was where I was (check). The male has fairly dark green flanks with an orangish edging to the insides of its tail feathers (check).  In the right light its dark throat would turn a rosy red. The road-tailed range includes Idaho and Wyoming to the north spreading south through Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and into Mexico. It likes higher altitudes, but will not go as far west to the Pacific Coast.

A female Broad-tailed Hummingbird (or a female Calliope?), Sonoran Desert Museum, Tucson, AZ; 12/27/2009.

Val also caught a good picture of a female Broad-tailed Hummingbird (Above) at the Sonoran Desert Museum Hummingbird House.  Initially I ID'd this hummer as a Calliope, as the females of both the Calliope and Broad-tailed are very similar with a green head and back, grayish throat, dark wings and a buffy breast. I decided that it was a Broad-tailed because the wing tips of the hummer (Above) do not reach the tip of the tail, whereas on the Calliope, its wing tips are as long as the tip of the tail, and the Broad-tailed has more white on its breast. And finally, in the photos I've seen of the Calliope, it seems that its bill is thinner than the Broad-tailed, and this hummer looks to have a thicker bill.  However, the eye gave me some trouble with the ID. Calliopes have a white spot behind its eye as does the hummer (Above), while Broad-taileds have a complete white eye-ring.  The bird above doesn't appear to have a complete eye-ring, but shadow and feathers could obscure it. I am still leaning toward the Broad-billed because of the length of the wings.