April 18, 2013

Common Black Hawk

Common Black Hawk

Zone-tailed Hawk

Zone-tailed Hawk

Most out-of-state birders coming to Arizona for the first time fly into Phoenix, grab a rental car, and drive south as quickly as they can.  Big mistake!  Either they haven’t done their homework, or the excitement/adrenaline of their first trip to the best birding destination in the country clouds their judgment and they overlook an opportunity to see two of Arizona’s special species, two of the west’s most beautiful raptors, half an hour northeast of Phoenix near the so-called “town” of Sunflower.

Back in the day, Sunflower used to have a gas station, a convenience store with chocolate donuts, and cattle grazing in pastures along old state route 87.  Now there’s a new highway, truly a “beeline,” cutting off all the old curves along the route to Payson, and Sunflower is just the jumping off point for arguably the most reliable spot in Arizona, April through June, to see both Common Black-Hawk and Zone-tailed Hawk, sometimes within minutes of one another.

Sunflower is approximately 32 miles north on Highway 87 from Shea Boulevard.  You’ll see tow trucks and a garage on your right.  Slow down, get in the left lane, and cross over the southbound lanes onto old 87, one of the “oxbow” curves cut off by the new highway.  You can drive old 87 for a couple miles to a dead end where you can park, walk past the barricades, and continue birding on foot for another mile or so until you reach the old forest service work station on your right.  The Black-Hawks nest between Sunflower and the dead end, the Zone-taileds between the dead end and the work station.

This is a wonderfully birdy riparian area with oaks, sycamores, and cottonwoods which has become well known to local Phoenix birders.  By giving specific directions I’m simply letting the proverbial neon cat out of its proverbial cellophane bag, but I do so with a caveat.  People live and work along the first section before the dead end.  There are several permanent residences and a working ranch, and the highway is a narrow two lane.  Be respectful and friendly to the locals you encounter, if you park and walk this section do not block driveways or the right-of-way, and don’t make noise or litter.  Obvious, yes, but things we all forget sometimes in the heat of a life-bird-moment.

The Zonies do not nest close to the road, so there is less chance of nest disturbance with them and you will see them in flight, soaring over the area as they hunt.  The Black-Hawks, however, usually nest near the road and still-hunt the creek bed from beneath the riparian canopy, watching for frogs, snakes, and crayfish.  If you happen upon the Sunflower pair’s nest, take a look and then move on.  Don’t loiter or make noise in the vicinity of the nest.

Watch for Cooper’s Hawk, Yellow Warbler, Summer Tanager, Northern Cardinal, and Hooded Oriole along the creek, and don’t forget to come back in late summer and look for juvenile Black-hawks which many feel rock North America’s most beautiful raptor plumage.  This is the new Sunflower, no longer a town but definitely one of central Arizona’s hottest birding spots.