NPS photo Fort Bowie NHS Bird Checklist (pdf 600 KB)Nestled between the Dos Cabeza and Chiricahua Mountains, Fort Bowie offers excellent year-round birding opportunities. Mesquite grasslands, upland oak -juniper woodlands, riparian zones, and dry wash canyons create a mosaic of specialized habitat for migratory, summer, and resident species. Spring is the perfect time to observe warblers and flycatchers, in crisp breeding plumage, as they refuel on newly hatched insects, before continuing their northward journey. For other species, Fort Bowie is a final northern migratory stop. Scott’s and Hooded Orioles, Lucy’s and Black-throated Gray Warblers, Ash- throated and Brown-crested Flycatchers, Cassin’s and Western Kingbirds, Western Wood Pewees, Black-chinned Hummingbirds, Summer Tanagers, Elf and Flammulated Owls, and Turkey Vultures are just a few of the summer denizens joining resident Black-throated Sparrows, Scrub Jays, Gambel’s Quail, House Finch, Northern Cardinals, Canyon Towhees, Northern Mockingbirds, Mexican Whip-poor-wills, phoebes, titmice, wrens, and thrashers in the seasonal tasks of establishing territories and nest building. As the weather cools and days shorten, summer residents fly south as northern nesting species return to overwinter at Fort Bowie. Wintering Red-naped and Williamson’s Sapsuckers forage in snags or standing dead and decaying trees, joined by local flickers, Ladderback, Acorn, and Arizona Woodpeckers. Overhead, Sandhill Cranes fly in formation enroute to their wintering grounds in the Sulphur Springs Valley, a phenomenon which repeats in spring, as the cranes migrate north to nesting grounds in Idaho, Montana, Canada, and Alaska. A call, a song, or a flash of color can always be experienced by observant visitors as they stroll the trail at Fort Bowie. |
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Last updated: November 4, 2022