#7 Birding Doug's Yard

The Phoenix weather was absolutely perfect. Each morning we sat on Doug’s front porch which overlooks the desert and watched birds. I hung a hummingbird feeder in a mesquite tree and within 30 minutes Anna’s and Costa’s hummingbirds were vying for the syrup. Soon a Gila woodpecker discovered the free food and performed an intricate balancing act to get at the tiny holes that dispensed the sweet stuff. A covey of Gambel’s quail foraged around in the cover of a brush pile; and every morning at 9:15 a beautiful male cardinal flew to the top of a nearby tree to soak up the sunshine and show off his regal splendor.

Here are the birds we saw in Doug’s yard:
Black-throated sparrow
Ferruginous hawk
Red-tailed hawk
Gambel’s Quail
Anna’s Hummingbird
Costa’s Hummingbird
Mourning Dove
Starling
Cactus Wren
Gila Woodpecker
Curve-billed Thrasher
Bendire’s Thrasher
Abert’s Towhee
Great-tailed Grackle
Verdin
Townsend’s Warbler
Mockingbird
House Sparrow
Black-tailed Gnatcatcher
Northern Cardinal
White-crowned sparrow
House Finch