On most trips there are a few birds that you seen almost every day, this one there were an exceptional number of ubiquitous birds. Some of them were familiar birds that I had seen on my December 2023 New Mexico Trip of even in Rhode Island. The number represents the individual birds I saw on the trip.
White-winged Dove – 281 – Life Bird although normally resides to The Southwest and South coast of the US, Mexico, Central America & the Caribbean we had one in Rhode Island a few weeks after I returned.
House Finch – 188 – This is a daily bird in Rhode Island as well – all season and most habitats.
Lesser Goldfinch – 142 – New Mexico – one of my first life birds in New Mexico, we had a particularly cooperative one that surprised the guide by allowing us to be within a few feet of it. They are all over the place and every time I saw that flash of yellow on a tiny bird – I though I had a warbler. I did not!
Mourning Dove – 135 – This is a daily bird in Rhode Island as well – typically perched on the Phone wires. The photo is from Rhode Island -- I didn't take any Mourning Dove photos in Arizona.
Mexican Jay – 132 – Life Bird – a noisy bird that you always know is around. I rarely saw them alone – almost always in a pack, a vociferous pack!
Lark Sparrow – 131 – This bird is a rare vagrant in Rhode Island, but we had one that stayed for a month or so this winter. The locals in SE Arizona told me they were particularly populous this season – they have never seen so many.
Red-winged Blackbird – 103 – This a seasonal bird in Rhode Island. It has replaced the American Robin (that we now have all year long) as the harbinger of spring. They usually leave sometime in September. Photo from Rhode Island - so many birds, no photo...
Lucy’s Warbler – 92 – Life Bird – this little bird was very difficult to get my lens on. It was singing everywhere and I caught glimpses all the time. Usually in the shadows or a quick glimpse on a branch. It is a fairly plain bird singing a beautiful song.
House Sparrow – 84 – A daily bird in Rhode Island. I found it interesting that this bird was not in the mountains, they are more of a city/town bird and don’t tend to inhabit non-populous places.
Acorn Woodpecker – 81 – Life Bird – this bird made the list even though I did not see them in Tucson because I saw them constantly outside of Tucson. The drill little holes in dead trees to create food stores. The holes looked too small for the acorns I am familiar with, but there is a different species of Oak Trees out there and the acorns are much smaller
Gambel’s Quail – 80 – New Mexico – this was a life bird at the cactus garden at Bosque Del Apache, had some nice close encounters there. They are not skittish In Arizona at all – in gardens, perched in trees, on cactus & on phone wires. They were really all over the place.
Black-headed Grosbeak – 74 – Life Bird – Similar in size and shape to the Rose-breasted Grosbeak we get in the east. It has a striking black and orange plumage and, of course, the large beak. I find the female who has very different plumage to be quite beautiful as well.
Male
Female
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