Wing It with the the Southeast Arizona Birding Festival
Your guide to the Southeast Arizona Birding Festival, and birding hotspots in and around Marana!
The Southeast Arizona Birding Festival, hosted by Tucson Audubon Society, takes places each August, and is headquartered at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Tucson - Reid Park. From there, you can experience bird photography and art workshops, free talks, a vendor expo, and guided field trips all around Southern Arizona, led by expert birding guides.
Southeastern Arizona is positioned along several bird migration routes, and contains a variety of habitats, including riparian areas, wooded sky islands, rocky peaks, mountain foothills, and wide expanses of pristine desert. These combine to make it an ideal environment to see a wide diversity of bird species. The Arizona Monsoon Season in July and August leads to a rejuvenation of life in the desert, with birds being no exception. Many species are much more observable during the monsoons.
Marana-Area Birding Hotspots
Marana and the areas around it are home to several birding hotspots that are known the region over for their interesting terrain and diversity of bird species. Tour several of these sites with expert-guided tours during the Southeast Arizona Birding Festival, or, take a self-guided birding tour any other time ot the year! The festival's selection of locations are some of the most iconic in Southern Arizona, and put the geographic diversity and biodiversity of the region on full display. Here are some highlights:
El Rio Preserve and the Santa Cruz River
The El Rio Preserve protects 104 acres of riparian area along the Santa Cruz River, and is one of the top birding spots in the Tucson area. Egrets, vireos, herons, comorants, warblers, mallards, and hummingbirds are just a few of the 227 species that have been documented at the Preserve. The Santa Cruz River has supported human agriculture for thousands of years, and was lined by lush, riparian ecosystems. Due to large-scale diversions for irrigation, the once-free-flowing river was transformed into an intermittent stream. As a result of efforts made in the past two decades to restore the ecosystem with discharged effluent, water once again flows constantly in the Santa Cruz through northwestern Marana. The course of the river is a great place to see a variety of bird species, especially during monsoon season, which coincides with the August bird migrations.
The El Rio Preserve can be easily accessed by foot or bike via The Loop Shared Use Path, or by car, a short distance from the Twin Peaks & I-10 Interchange.
Also, don't miss the Tucson Audubon Society’s Mason Nature Center, near Marana, which offers bird walks during the fall, winter, and spring, November through April.
More Marana Blogs
Birding Along The Santa Cruz River
Beauty and Wildlife in Unlikely Places
The El Rio Preserve: A Birding Oasis
Experience one of the best birding hotspots, and unique habitat types, in Southern Arizona.
The Most Unusual Owls in Marana
Burrowing owls (Athene cuniculaira) are somewhat comical looking, with long legs and big yellow eyes.
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