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.