Madera Canyon, which is located close to the Mexican border (indicated as E on the map), is one of the prime birding sites in Arizona and a place we really enjoyed visiting in 2010. We therefore decided to include it in our 2022 tour around the state and spend a few nights at the lodge we stayed in 10 years earlier, the Chuparosa Inn.
We drove down from Tucson during the morning of 30 April (day 5) and gradually worked our way up the canyon stopping at a number of good birding location. The Santa Rita Lodge has many feeds in front of the property so this was our first stopping point.
The middle-of-the-day light was not good for photography, but we still got a few reasonable shots of some of the classic Arizona birds, including Arizona Woodpecker, Acorn Woodpecker and Mexican Jay.
After checking in at the Chuparosa Inn we had a quick look around the property and found lots of Acorn Woodpeckers, with one busy making holes and burying nuts in the wooden boarding at the top of the house.
On the first of our two full days in Madera Canyon (day 6, 1 May) we decided to explore a number of good birding locations in the canyon, some of which we had visited in 2010 and some which were new to us. We had a quick look around Chuparosa Inn soon after dawn but the light was still poor and we only got a reasonable photograph of a Hermit Thrush. We had more success when we drove down the canyon, stopping first at the Madera Picnic Area where we had excellent view of a beautiful male Summer Tanager.
We next drove further down the canyon stopping at the Proctor parking area and working our way through the forest that extends along Proctor Road. There we saw Hooded Oriole, Canyon Towhee and Hammond’s Flycatcher.
After we returned to the Chuparosa Inn in the late morning we did a circuit of the gardens and almost immediately heard the very distinctive call of the Elegant Trogon. This bird is primarily found in Mexico and Central America, and is only a spring/summer visitor in southeast Arizona. It’s therefore a major target of most birders coming to Arizona during the spring and summer months.
The stream that runs down Madera Canyon is located just behind the Chuparosa Inn and the trogon was close to the water and working its way up the valley. We therefore followed its call and tried to get some photographs as it moved from tree to tree. A number of other birders joined us as we went up the valley and we eventually tracked the trogon back to its nest. Seeing the pair of birds near the nest was the highlight of the day, if not the trip.
After such an exciting morning we then drove across to Green Valley to have lunch at the Ragazzi Italian Restaurant in a small mall in the centre of town. As spending a couple of days at higher elevations it was noticable now much hotter it was in the valley close to I19.
For the following day (2 May, day 7) we were lucky enough to have found an excellent local and experienced bird guide in Ken Blankenship, who runs East West Birding Tours. In our experience you can’t beat having a good local guide to help you find the difficult birds, no matter how much research you’ve done yourself. We therefore met Ken early on 2 May at the base of Madera Canyon and drove east in his truck towards Box Canyon. Hardly had we stopped by the side of the road that runs through the canyon than Ken heard the call of the Five-striped Sparrow, our main target bird for the day. The bird was soon located and we got several good shots of the bird.
The Five-striped Sparrow is only found in northwest Mexico and a few canyons in southeast Arizona. Surveys have suggested there may be fewer than 50 individual in Arizona, so we were very lucky to see the bird.
While we were parked beside the road high above the canyon we also saw Cassin’s Kingbird, Hooded Oriole, Costa’s Hummingbird, Ashy-throated Flycatcher and Cassin’s Vireo. Another highlight of the day was seeing a Golden Eagle flying down the valley and landing on the other side of the valley with some prey. Although very distant we even managed to get some (rather shaky) video of the eagle enjoying its meal.
After Box Canyon we went back to Madera Canyon, parking again at the Proctor Road park area and birding in the nearby forest. This was a very productive session and we saw Warbling Vireo, Townsends Warbler, Hepatic Tanager, Ash-throated Flycatcher and Plumbeous Vireo, which was a lifer.
We next drove up to the top of Madera Canyon and birded in the pine forest, seeing Bridled Titmouse, Dusky-capped Flycatcher, Hermit Warbler and Brown-crested Flycatcher.
We drove back down the valley to the Chuparosa Inn for lunch before having a final birding session with Ken halfway down the canyon, where the highlights were an Hepatic Tanager and Hutton’s Vireo.
We’d been told during the day that in the early evening there was a chance of seeing an Elf Owl at a property opposite the Santa Rita Lodge, where the residents where happy to show birders where the owl could be found. The Elf Owl is the world’s smallest owl so this was an opportunity we couldn’t miss. We therefore joined a group of around a dozen birders at dusk and were indeed luck enough to see this tiny owl emerge from the roost inside a tree beside the main road through the canyon.
