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BIRDING AT ROOSEVELT LAKE &
TONTO NATIONAL MONUMENT AREAS

Birding at Roosevelt lake and the Tonto National Monument can only be described as "Birding Bliss"  When you first arrive the best place to start your adventure is at a place called Windy Point.   Blackbirds, finches and sparrows seemingly flutter around the parking lot like a moth to a flame. great blue herons flap slowly over the water, while vultures and hawks soar overhead looking  for their next meal.  In the surrounding brush birders will see and hear Gambel’s Quail. And to make it all perfect, there very few people around. 

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Click on the button below for a list compiled by the National Parks Service.  For directions to these ares go to either Roosevelt Lake and surrounding area and trails or the Tonto National Monument area and trails.  Below is a short list of common seen species.

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American Kestrel

Falco sparverius

Length: 9"
Wing-span: 22"
Diet: Insects and small animals

American Kestrals are one of the smallest falcons and most colorful raptors. Males have a blue head and wings which contrasts with the rusty-red back and tail. Females are red on the wings, back, and tail. They are solitary and hunt within a small range.

Birding Gila County Black-tailed Gnatcat

Black-tailed Gnatcatcher

Polipotila melanura

Length: 4.5"
Wing-span: 5.5"
Diet: Small Insects

This tiny songbird has a thin, straight bill, and a long tail. They are gray overall with a white eyering, and a black tail. They are a darker gray above with paler gray underparts. Their call is a dry hissing pssh sound and a very harsh tssh-tssh-tssh series. Their song is a jumble of high chips and warbles, but it rarely heard.

Birding_GilaCounty_BlackthroatedSparrow.

Black-throated Sparrow

Amphizspiza bilineata

Length: 5.5"
Wing-span: 7.75"
Diet: Insects and seeds

This relatively small sparrow has brown plumage, black throat and breast, and a white eyebrow. Juveniles do not have the black throat. The call is a dry hissing pssh and tssh-tssh-tssh series. Their song is a jumble of high chirps and warbles, although it is rarely heard. 

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Cactus Wren

Campylohynchus brunneicapillus

Length: 8.5"
Wing-span: 11"
Diet: Insects and fruit

The Cactus Wren is a large, chunky bird with a long heavy bill, a long, rounded tail, and short, rounded wings. They are a speckled brown bird with bright white eyebrows. They often build ovals nests in cacti. Their call is a low hallow kot given in a series. Their song is a log, chugging, unmusical series of krrr krrr krr.

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Canyon Towhee

Pipilo fuscus

Length: 9"
Wing-span: 11.5"
Diet: Seeds, fruit, insects

These large, warm-brown sparrows have fairly long tails, chunky bodies, and short rounded wings. They have a short, thick bill. They are commonly seen on the ground in the parking lot and underneath shrubs. Their call is a nasal tinny kidl or kilt. Their song is a simple, methodical, slow trill of short whistled notes: kild ti ti ti ti ti ti ti ti kill.

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Canyon Wren

Catherpes mexicanus

Length: 5.75"
Wing-span: 7.5"
Diet: Insects and spiders

This small songbird has a brown body, a white throat, and a long, thin bill. They usually climb around on rack faces looking for food. Their call is a high ringing buzz jink. Their song is a cascading series of clear whistles ending with nasal hissing noises.

Birding_GilaCounty_Cardinalis cardinalis

Cardinal

Cardinalis cardinalis

 

Length: 8.75"
Wing-span: 12"
Diet: Seeds, fruit, insect larvae

Cardinals are a fairly large, long-tailed bird with a short, very thick bill and prominent crest. Adult males are uniquely colored, with a bright red body, a black face, and an obvious, pointed crest. Adult females are similarly shaped, but are pale brown in coloration, with a reddish tinge on wings, tail, and crest. The call of is a sharp, somewhat metallic chip. Their song is a series of high, clear, and mostly slurred whistles woit woit woit chew chew chew chew chew or pichew pichew tiw tiw tiw tiw tiw tiw with many variations.

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Common Raven

Corvus corax

Length: 24"
Wing-span: 53"
Diet: Opportunist Feeders 

This massive, entirely black bird has a thick neck and shaggy throat feathers. In flight, ravens have long, wedge-shaped tails. They are larger than crows with longer and narrower wings. Their common call is a deep baritone croak brrrronk.

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Costa's Hummingbird

Calypte costae
 

Length: 3.5"
Wing-span: 4.75"
Diet: Nectar, insects 

Adult males have a purplish crown and long flared throat feathers. On the adult female, the throat and underparts are dingy white to pale gray and a pale "eyebrow". Their call is a very high, musical chip. Their song is a very high, thin, rising, and falling buzz.

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Curve-bill Thrasher

Toxostoma curvirostre

Length: 11"
Wing-span: 13.5"
Diet: Forages on the ground, tossing leaves and debris with their bill to expose insects and other invertebrates

This dull grayish brown bird is a large, long-tailed songbird. It has a long, thing, slightly down-curved bill. Its call is a distinctive, sharp, liquid whistle wit-WEET-wit. Its song is similar to other thrashers, but rather harsh, crisp, and hurried with many short, sharp notes such as quit quit and weet.

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Gamble's Quail

Callipepla gambelii
 

Length: 10"
Wing-span: 14"
Diet: Seeds, leaves, insects

This quail is plump, short-tailed, and has grayish plumage. Both adult males and females have the prominenet tear-drop shaped head plume or double plume. Males give a repeated nasal pup waay pop with a short clipped final note call.

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Gila Woodpecker

Melanerpes urophyialis

Length: 9.25"
Wing-span: 16"
Diet: Insects, fruit, seeds, occasionally birds' eggs, and lizards 

This medium to large woodpecker has a barred black-and-white back, and a brown face and neck. Adult males have a red cap. They are a characteristic bird of saguaro cactus forests. Their call is a loud harsh quirrrr. They drum long and steady.

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Gilded Flicker

Colaptes chrysoides

Length: 11"
Wing-span: 18"
Diet: Insects, fruits, seeds

This medium to large woodpecker is grayish brown, with a barred pattern on top and spotted pattern below. They have a black crescent on their chest. While in flight, their white rump and yellow wing patches are obvious. Their call is a long series of long wik-wik-wik note

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House Finch

Carpodactus mexicanus

Length: 6"
Wing-span: 9.5"
Diet: Seeds, fruit, and other insects

These small-bodied birds have fairly large beaks and somewhat long, flat heads. Their wings are short, making their tail seem long by comparison. Adult males are red around the face and upper breast, with a brown back, belly, and tail. Adult females are not red; they are a plain grayish-brown. Their flight call is soft husky fidlp or vweet. Their song is a varied warble with a steady tempo, it begins with high clear notes nad ends with lower blurry notes.

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Lesser Goldfinch

Carduelis pstaltia

Length: 4.5"
Wing-span: 8"
Diet: Seeds

These tiny, stub-billed songbirds have long, pointed wings, and short, notched tails. Adult males are a bright yellow below a black cap and white patches on their wings. Adult females have olive colored backs, dull yellow underparts, and black wings marked by two whitish wingbars. Their call is a high, clear wiry tleeee, teeeyEE, or teseeeeeeeeew. Their song is slow and hoarse, often imitating other species.

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Phainopepla

Paihopepla nitens

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Length: 7.75"
Wing-span: 11" 
Diet: Berries

The phainopepla is a slender, long-tailed, round-winged bird with red eyes and a shaggy crest. Adult males are shiny black with white wing patches; adult females are grayish with white edging on all wing feathers. Their call is a low questioning hoi. Their song is a series of disjointed, short, warbled phrases that may be grating in quality.

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Rock Wren

Salpinctes obsoleuts 

Length: 6"
Wing-span: 9"
Diet: Insects and other arthropods 

This small songbird has a pale gray back, faintly striped throat, a long tail, and a long, thin bill. They often stand on top of a bock and bounces (as if doing deep knee-bends) while giving a ringing call. Their call is a ringing buss pdzeeee which can be heard from a great distance. Their song is series of buzzy, trilled, ringing phrases which are repeated three to six times in regular rhythm.

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Say's Phoebe

Sayornis saya

Length: 7.5"
Wing-span: 13"
Diet: Insects

This slender, long-tailed flycatcher appears to have a large head for a bird of its size. They are a pale brownish color on their back with a cinnamon belly, a blackish tail and a gray breast. Their call is a low, plaintive, whistled pdeer or tueee. Their song is a series of relatively low, whistled phrases pidiweew and pidireep.

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Turkey Vulture

Cathartes aura

Length: 26"
Wing-span: 67"
Diet: Carrion 

They are large dark birds with long, broad winds. They are dark colored with pales flight feathers giving them a two-toned appearance. They have a featherless red head and pale bill. While flying, they teeter. They make soft hissing and clucking noises which are seldom heard.

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Verdin

Auriparus flaviceps
 

Length: 4.5"
Wing-span: 6.5"
Diet: Small insects, fruit, nectar

Verdins are a small bird that is a dull gray with a yellow face and chesnut shoulder. Their call is a clear tschep and rapid chip notes. Their song is a three-note whistle, tee tyew too, with the second note higher.

Birding_GilaCounty_White-crowned Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

Zonotrichia leucophrys

Length: 7"
Wing-span: 9.5"
Diet:

This large sparrow has a small bill and a long tail. They are a plan, pale-gray bird with a very bold black-and-white strip on the head and a pale pink or yellow bill. Their call is a sharp plink. Their song varies regionally, but often contains a series of buzzy trills on different pitches: feeee odi odi zeee zaaaa zooo. 

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White-throated Swift

Aeronautes saxatalis

Length: 6.5"
Wing-span: 15"
Diet: Insects

This small bird has a black back, wings, and tail and white a white throat, belly, and sides of the rump. Their wings are long, pointed, and swept back. They are mainly seen around their nests on rocky cliffs, especially above the Lower Cliff Dwelling. Their call is a long descending series of scraping notes ki ki ki ki kir kir kir kiir kiir kirsh krrs krrsh.

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