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Retirees are not the only "snowbirds" that fly to Phoenix in winter. The high desert, mountains,
riparian ecotones, extensive areas devoted to farmland and plant nurseries, and municipal
conservation areas provide refuge for a wide variety of avian life. As in any birding location, one
should arrive near sunrise to see the greatest variety of birds, but late morning and early evening
visits often provide prolonged opportunities to observe behavioral activities that can not be enjoyed
during the early morning rush hour.
A hot spot is any location in which a large assemblage or great variety of birds can be found. There
are many of these in the Phoenix area:
The farmlands southeast of Gilbert provide forage for large mixed flocks of blackbirds that often
include the great-tailed grackle that recently expanded its range into the Southwest from Mexico
and Central America. Mid-day flocks wheel from pasture to field and may be composed of more than
two thousand grackles with hundreds each of European starlings, yellow-headed blackbirds, redwinged blackbirds, and brown-headed cowbirds. Look for them especially near the stockyards and
grain fields in this area.The Gilbert Riparian PreserveNumerous golf courses with their manicured
fairways and water hazards often are hosts to clouds of snowy and great egrets wading and feeding
in the shallow waters. The Town of Gilbert's Riparian Preserve, at Guadalupe and Greenfield, often
has hundreds of these egrets plus over 210 other bird species. There is usually a sprinkling of the
more colorful herons: great-blue, tricolored, and green herons are common. Flocks of least and
western sandpipers, long-billed dowitchers, and killdeer frequent pools through which gallinules
(moor hens), American and black coots swim and glossy ibis, avocet, black-necked stilt, sandhill
crane, and greater yellowlegs wade gobbling up invertebrates they find there. Observe closely, as
snipe, rails, and American bitterns may move into the open from the grasses and emergent