Going to Arizona in the middle of summer doesn’t seem like a smart thing to do. The heat can be stifling, causing most wildlife to be active only in the early mornings before the sun comes up or late in the day at sunset. During the middle of the day, most wildlife lies low and tries to stay out of the heat.
Most days, the skies start out clear, and the sun shines. By the afternoon, the heat of the sun produces many cumulus clouds. These are the tall, billowing clouds that can produce thunderstorms, often dumping large amounts of rain and spitting out bolts of lightning.
I was in Arizona to give a couple of presentations at the Sedona Hummingbird Festival. The festival featured speakers and activities centered around the abundant hummingbirds that inhabit Arizona. While I was there, I figured I would spend a little time exploring several favorite places around the state and looking for some wildlife.
Arizona has several mountain ranges running through the state. The higher elevations are a great place to seek cooler temperatures and, therefore, active wildlife. One day, we drove up into a nearby mountain canyon. As we drove up the winding road, we slowly gained elevation, and the habitat changed from shrubs and bushes to sporadic trees. The scattered trees eventually gave way to a full-fledged forest with taller trees. We stopped around the 5,000-foot elevation mark and got out to see what we could find. We had met up with a friend who told us that a very uncommon bird had been heard calling nearby, so we decided to try to find it.
Scrambling up a small, dry stream bed and being careful to watch out for rattlesnakes, we could hear the bird calling off in the distance. Just five minutes later, we found the bird. Perched on an open branch sat a male elegant trogon (Trogon elegans). He was calling over and over again with a loud, raspy, grunting call. The call is more of a bark than what you would expect from a bird.
The elegant trogon is a tropical-looking bird, about 12 inches long, with a deep green head, a white chest band, and a red belly. The back and tail are iridescent green. The tail is extra-long and squared off at the end. It has a large, dull-yellow bill that it uses to crack open fruit and seeds. They also eat a wide variety of insects.
This bird is normally found in the mountains of Mexico and Central America. A very small population extends into the far southeastern corner of Arizona. They breed in just four mountain ranges in the region, and this location is one of the few spots in the U.S. where you can see such a magnificent bird. The total U.S. population is estimated to be about 200 birds. I don’t think I need to tell you that 200 isn’t very many.
The elegant trogon prefers dry arid woodlands with oaks and juniper. They are often associated with streams cascading down mountainsides. They are short-distant migrators, with the main population of the elegant trogons found in Mexico and parts of Central America. The birds found in Arizona migrate up in the spring to breed then migrate back to Mexico for the winter.
I know of many groups of birders and photographers who travel from all over the U.S. just to see this bird. It is definitely one of the most sought-after birds for birdwatchers to see and photograph. We couldn’t believe our eyes when, after just a short hike, we successfully found and captured some great images of this amazing bird. For the next 25 to 30 minutes, we followed the bird as it moved from perch to perch, capturing a number of wonderful pictures.
Afterward, we hiked back to our car, exclaiming how amazed we were at our luck in not only finding the bird but also capturing images of it. Until next time …
Editor’s note: Stan Tekiela’s NatureSmart column appears twice a month in the Eden Prairie Local News. Tekiela is an author, naturalist, and wildlife photographer who travels extensively across the United States to study and capture wildlife images.
You can follow his work on Instagram and Facebook. He can be contacted via his website at www.naturesmart.com.
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