In honor of our record we signed up for a Wildlife Habitat Certificate at The National Wildlife Federation. To qualify, there are certain criterias to meet and we've spent countless hours getting our property habitat ready.
Here's the bullet list links...
- One thing we're super excited about is our resident Western Screech Owl. With leftover cedar fence wood and some online plans, we made a box and erected it on an old lighting pole. One year later, he moved in his new home. We've even named our guy "Barkly" because he looks like tree bark. If he draws in a mate, she'll be named Sparkly.
- A little more difficult, but something that made all the difference, was adding moving water. We made a nice 30 ft shallow stream and that's a "hot spot" for all the birds, local or passing by. Recently, a Rufous-backed Robin stopped in for a bath. There's been swimming Ravens, Towhees, Quails and so many more. Super cuteness occurs when hummingbirds swim. Sometimes, they swim in a small group like a real backyard pool party!
Certainly, we've also planted native plants and flowers such as milkweed, lantana, cassia, and Texas rangers. I'll make a plant list soon.
In all honesty, you don't need to go crazy to make a habitat. Just follow the link above and do a few small improvements to the space around you. Hang a seed feeder, make a small water feature, add some potted flowers and next thing you know...you too can get a Wildlife Habitat Certificate! (For a mere $20.00).
Anyway, back to the bird list. Birds with asterisk made the Audubon Rare Bird Alert for Southern Arizona. I'll be attaching/linking images I've taken from the yard. Some links may leave this page or open in a separate window.
That's all for now. Happy birding. Leave me a comment below. Tell me about your rarities, yard, or birds. I'm all ears.
This list is presented in the taxonomic sequence of the Check-list of North American Birds.
New World Quail (famiiy Odontophoridae) Gambel’s Quail Herons, Bitterns & Allies (Family Ardeidae) Great Blue Heron Snowy egret New World Vultures (Family Cathartidae) Turkey Vulture Black Vulture Hawks, Kites, Eagles & Allies (Family Accipitridae) Sharp-shinned Hawk Cooper’s Hawk Harris’s Hawk Zone-tailed Hawk Red-tailed Hawk Pigeons & Doves (Family Columbidae) Rock Pigeon Mourning Dove Eurasian Collared-Dove White-winged Dove Cuckoos, Roadrunners & Anis (Family Cuculidae) Greater Roadrunner Owls (Families Tytonidae & Strigidae) Great Horned Owl Western Screech-Owl Northern Saw-Whet Owl Goatsuckers (Family Caprimulgidae) Lesser Nighthawk Common Nighthawk | Hummingbirds (Family Trochilidae) *Violet-crowned HB Broad-billed HB Black-chinned HB Costa’s HB Anna’s HB Rufous HB Woodpeckers & Allies (Family Picidae) Gila Woodpecker Northern Flicker Gilded Flicker Red-naped Sapsucker Ladder-backed Woodpecker Caracaras & Falcons (Family Falconidae) American Kestrel Prairie Falcon Tyrant Flycatchers (Family Tyrannidae) Say’s Phoebe Vermilion Flycatcher Brown-crested Flycatcher Great-crested Flycatcher Ash-throated Flycatcher Dusky-capped Flycatcher Western Kingbird Shrikes (Family Laniidae) Western Kingbird Vireos (Family Vireonidae) Bell’s Vireo Hutton’s Vireo Warbling Vireo Plumbeous Vireo Crows & Jays (Family Corvidae) Common Raven Swallows (Family Hirundinidae) Violet-green Swallow Northern Rough-winged Swallow Cliff Swallow Barn Swallow | Penduline Tits & Verdins (Family Remizidae) Verdin Long-tailed Tits & Bushtits (Family Aegithalidae) Bushtit Creepers (Family Certhiidae) Brown Creeper Nuthatches (Family Sittidae) Red-breasted Nuthatch Wrens (Family Troglodytidae) House Wren Bewick’s Wren Cactus Wren Canyon Wren Gnatcatchers (family Polioptilidae) Black-tailed Gnatcatcher Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Kinglets (Family Regulidae) Ruby-crowned Kinglet Thrushes (Family Turdidae) Hermit Thrush American Robin *Rufous-backed Robin Mockingbirds & Thrashers (Family Mimidae) Northern Mockingbird Curve-billed Thrasher Waxwings (Family Bombycillidae) Cedar Waxwing Silky Flycatchers (Family Ptiliogonatidae) Phainopepla | Wood-warblers (Family Parulidae) Orange-crowned Warbler Lucy’s Warbler Nashville warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Black-throated Gray Warbler Yellow Warbler MacGillivray’s Warbler Wilson’s Warbler Emberizids (Family Emberizidae) Green-tailed Towhee Canyon Towhee Abert’s Towhee Rufous-winged Sparrow Chipping Sparrow Brewer’s Sparrow Lark Sparrow Lincoln’s Sparrow Song Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco (multiple subspecies) Cardinals, Saltators & Allies (Family Cardinalidae) Western Tanager Black-headed Grosbeak Northern Cardinal Pyrrhuloxia Lazuli Bunting *Dickcissel Blackbirds (Family Icteridae) Great-tailed Grackle Brown-headed Cowbird Bronzed Cowbird Brewer's blackbird Hooded Oriole Bullock’s Oriole Finches & Allies (Family Fringillidae) House Finch Pine Siskin Lesser Goldfinch Old-World Sparrows (Family Passeridae) House Sparrow |