Complete field guide to every bird species recorded in Arizona. Browse by name, filter by taxonomic family or order, and tap any species for photos, range maps, songs, and identification tips.
All sighting data is sourced from eBird, the world's largest citizen science database for birds. Use this guide to discover what birds live in Arizona, learn their calls, and plan birding trips to the best hotspots in the region.
Southeast Arizona is on every North American birder's bucket list, and for good reason: the sky islands — isolated mountain ranges rising from the desert — pull Mexican specialties across the border found nowhere else in the US. Elegant Trogon, Montezuma Quail, Five-striped Sparrow, and more than a dozen hummingbird species make canyons like Madera, Ramsey, and Cave Creek world-famous.
The rest of the state holds its own: Sonoran desert birds among the saguaros, riparian ribbons along the San Pedro and Salt rivers teeming with migrants, high-elevation forests on Mount Lemmon, and California Condors over the Grand Canyon. The summer monsoon acts as a second spring — August here can out-bird May almost anywhere else.
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Where to bird in Arizona
Madera Canyon
The classic sky-island canyon: Elegant Trogons nest along the creek, the lodges' feeders swarm with hummingbirds, and night birding turns up Whiskered Screech-Owl and Mexican Whip-poor-will.
Ramsey Canyon Preserve
The Nature Conservancy's hummingbird headquarters in the Huachucas — up to 14 species in a good monsoon season, plus Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers and Painted Redstarts.
Cave Creek Canyon & Portal
The Chiricahuas' crown jewel: trogons, Blue-throated Mountain-gems, Juniper Titmice up high, and the famous feeder circuit in Portal where Crissal Thrashers hop through yards.
Patagonia & the Paton Center
The legendary roadside rest stop (Thick-billed Kingbird, Rose-throated Becard) and the Paton Center's feeders, the most reliable Violet-crowned Hummingbird spot in the country.
San Pedro Riparian Area
A green ribbon through the desert that funnels astonishing migrant numbers, with Gray Hawks calling from the cottonwoods and Green Kingfishers on quiet stretches.
Sweetwater Wetlands
Tucson's recharge ponds: an easy morning loop for desert birds, wintering waterfowl and sparrows, and one of the best places anywhere to see a wild Sora out in the open.
Mount Lemmon
A drive from saguaros to spruce-fir in an hour — Red-faced Warbler, Olive Warbler, Yellow-eyed Junco, and Zone-tailed Hawks riding the ridgelines.
Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch (Gilbert)
The Phoenix area's birding hub: 300+ species recorded on a suburban pond complex, from wintering Rosy-faced Lovebirds (countable exotics) to shorebird flocks in migration.
Grand Canyon National Park
California Condors cruise the South Rim in summer, with Pinyon Jays and Juniper Titmice in the woodlands — the birding bonus on the state's biggest icon.
Arizona birding by season
Spring (March–May) — Trogons return, migrants pour through
Elegant Trogons arrive in April, the riparian corridors run thick with warblers and flycatchers, and desert nesting is in full swing before the heat clamps down.
Summer monsoon (July–September) — The second spring
Arizona's signature season: monsoon rains trigger a second nesting wave, hummingbird diversity peaks (this is when the rarities show up), and the sky islands are green and busy while the rest of the country goes quiet.
Fall (September–November) — Long, gentle migration
Sparrow flocks build in the grasslands, Sandhill Cranes return to Whitewater Draw by the thousands, and lingering Mexican rarities reward birders who keep working the canyons.
Perfect desert birding weather: wintering Baird's and Rufous-winged Sparrows, hawk-lined agricultural valleys, Mountain Plovers near Santa Cruz Flats, and 20,000+ cranes at Whitewater Draw.
All 624 bird species recorded in Arizona
Every species on this list has been recorded in Arizona on eBird. Tap any bird for photos, range maps, songs, and identification tips.