Miller Canyon

Another hotspot in the Huachuca Mountains

A friend and I made a quick run to Miller Canyon in the Huachuca Mountains one recent morning. Beatty's Guest Ranch, at the end of the road, is a known birding hotspot for hummingbirds. They have set up a number of feeders and a small set of bleachers for people to watch the action from. A surprise bird was a Painted Redstart which showed up to drink from the feeders.

Painted Redstarts are a type of warbler. You can see its thin 'warbler' bill. This black bird has a "scarlet" belly, a white wing patch,and a white crescent under its eye, Male and female Painted Redstarts both look alike and both can sing.

The Painted Redstart is found in oak-pine-juniper canyons of the Southwest.

Tucson Bird Alliance's Matt Griffiths wrote a nice blog about Painted Redstarts, yet one more bird that brings birders from around the country to southern Arizona.

There were many hummingbirds coming to the feeders. We visited this site late in the morning so the lighting for photographs wasn't the best. In addition, the birds had many perch spots in the shadows and behind branches. There were a few times one would perch in the open as this female Broad-billed Hummingbird did. You can see the orange on the underside of her bill.

Broad-tailed Hummingbirds were there. Although in the shadows, this male's gorget did light up a bit as it backed off of a feeder.

A male Broad-tailed Hummingbird will have feathers on its head and neck (its gorget) that are pigmented black but have an intricate cell structure. When light hits those feathers at the right angle, a brilliant red color shows.

Rivoli's Hummingbirds were frequenting the feeders. Their bright feathers rarely showed in that morning's light but at one point the male's green throat glowed as it was ready to take-off.

The lack of rain this past winter has caused much of southern Arizona to be exceptionally dry. Because of that, there are fewer sources of food and nectar for these hummingbirds and other creatures. We were fortunate to see many birds at Beatty's feeders but this is a very tough spring and summer for birds in our area.